Gronk Didn't Make the Trip to Chicago and That is ... Not Good

It was a weird time to be following the Patriots injury reports Saturday night as Gronk first appeared to be listed as Out, then was briefly upgraded to Doubtful, until finally they removed all doubt by not putting him on AirKraft One for the trip to Chicago. Not that we’re not used to seeing the Pats have to take the field without him. To find a season when he played all 16 games you have to go back to his first two years in the league. So the team is used to flying in the Missing Gronk Formation. But those absences have had a measurable impact.

Here are Brady’s numbers since the Groot to his Star Lord was drafted:

 With Gronk – Games: 118. W-L %: .790. Comp: 65.6%. YPA: 7.83. Passer rating: 103.8.
Without Gronk – Games: 30. W-L % .733. Comp: 60.2%. YPA: 6.94. Passer rating: 87.7.

And if you’re looking for an expanded role for Dwayne Allen, you better look again:

Allen without Gronk – Games: 3. Receptions: 2. Yards: 10.

And you can forget about the Age of Jacob Hollister dawning at last. He’s out too. As is Marcus Cannon. And that to me is the real scary part about losing Gronk for this one. Khalil Mack was limited all week but now is expected to play. Without the best blocking tight end in football, the cornerstone right tackle and a young tight end who can come in to chip the best Edge player in the game (as well as be the third TE in Jumbo sets and goal line). So it’s pretty much going to be LaAdrian Waddle as Brady’s security detail, with whatever help Allen can provide now that he’s the only big body option in the passing game.

It’s stating the obvious to say that the situation is pretty fucking grim. And how they manage a work around will be fascinating to watch. My guess is we’ll see a ton of Sony Michel running out of 2-back sets, they avoid Mack for the most part. I’d love to say this is where Josh Gordon emerges as Trump Era Randy Moss, but a quick reality check shows that the Bears defense has held opponents to the 7th lowest passer rating and Pro Football Focus grades them as the best coverage unit in the league. With the Patriots No. 2, for whatever that’s worth. So I think any shot down field toward Straight Flash Homie will be more along the lines of constraint plays, called just to keep the defense honest.

So yeah, it’s hard right now to polish this particular turd. But if the Patriots can somehow manage to put up 24+ points, pull out a road win then have Gronk and Cannon back for an easy Buffalo game next week? The rest of the AFC should probably just surrender.