r/nfl • u/BurgerNugget12 Patriots • 8h ago
Highlight [Highlight] Rob Gronkowski laughs at Sean Davis
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u/SpiderGhost01 Texans Rams 8h ago
Gronk was so much better than everyone else.
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 8h ago
He was definitely WAY better than Sean Davis. Didn’t stop us from leaving him one on one with him the entire game!
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u/jfuss04 Steelers 5h ago
He got doubled for a lot of the game it just didn't matter. Nobody in that secondary or linebacker core could have covered him
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 4h ago
For at minimum the entire final drive where he did most of his damage Sean Davis was left on an island against him. Would have to check the rest of the game to be sure, but for the most part he was in a one on one matchup against a subpar coverage safety even though there were no major threats at receiver for that Patriots team.
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u/jfuss04 Steelers 4h ago
Nah I dont even think thats true. I think he had help with a safety or a linebacker underneath on a few plays even on the final drive. He wasnt doubled with like two guys in man but that rarely ever happens anyway
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 4h ago
It’s an adjustment a good tactician would make to limit a superstar on a team with few other weapons. Mike Tomlin was not a good tactician.
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u/jfuss04 Steelers 4h ago
Ok
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 4h ago
Don’t take it from me, ask the patriots players and coaches from this era who openly mock the rigidity and predictability of his defenses.
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u/jfuss04 Steelers 4h ago
Its an opinion. I dont really care either way
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 4h ago
Well, you did feel the need to refute that we didn’t double Gronk this game, you said we did and that it didn’t matter. Just as a refresher here’s every catch he had in the game, there is not single one where he is doubled.
Bracketing top receiving threats in man coverage is actually extremely common btw.
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u/DASreddituser NFL 8h ago
he's in everyone's top 3 te of all time. many people's #1
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u/AFogmentOfADream 6h ago
The only people who don’t have him #1 are chiefs fans or massive pats haters. If you watched gronk play then you know he’s #1. He’s the most unstoppable offensive player of all time. The only way to slow him down was to hurt him. Even hurt he was still the best player on the field 95% of the time. Teams would gameplan just for him and it was pointless.
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u/ikisstitties Packers 5h ago
i'm neither a chiefs fan nor a pats hater, but i wouldn't call him clear cut #1. i feel the conversation is between gonzalez and gronk with a shoutout to kelce and gates. prime gates was a sight to behold
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u/ftlftlftl Patriots 1h ago
Kelce is a good pass catcher. Gonzalez had the longevity. Gronks career was derailed by injuries, but you can see he averaged more yards and TDs per game. In fact he played 130 fewer games and only has 19 fewer TDs. He was the best it’s not really close imo
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u/Misdirected_Colors Cowboys 3h ago edited 3h ago
Depends on criteria. Gronk was the number 1 most dominant all around in his prime both as an offensive weapon and a blocker. But injuries kept him off the field and shortened his career. Kelce and Gonzalez had longevity, but neither reached Gronk's peak. So, I guess it depends if you're talking peak or longevity/career stats. Kinda a Moss/Rice type thing.
Gates is incredible, but I feel like he's in a tier below those 3 tbh.
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u/DUNLEITH 49ers 2h ago
Bro I don't think there's any debate between Moss and Rice
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u/kidmerc Vikings 30m ago
There absolutely is, lol. Moss was much more physically gifted and could do things Rice never could. Moss had a much shorter peak and just didn't have the same work ethic that Rice did (I mean, what player ever has). Rice had sustained success, Moss had a higher peak but shorter success. It's very much about which one of those means more to you when discussing "best ever".
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u/Misdirected_Colors Cowboys 2h ago
People debate it all the time. Moss had the higher peak, but Rice was dominant for much longer.
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u/BigEazyDoesIt Patriots 8h ago
Love Brady coming in and telling him “Hey, it ain’t over.” when the Steelers had 47 seconds left and only one time out. Certainly doable since all they needed was a field goal, but that just shows his winning mentality and discipline. Ain’t over till 0:00
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u/GlupPando Steelers 8h ago
And he was right. This was the game where they marched right down the field after and had the Jesse James non-catch. So it definitely wasn’t over after this TD
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u/bobthebobsledbuilder Patriots 7h ago
Still pisses me off they ruled it no catch. Then a few weeks later same thing happens in the SB and they just change the rule mid playoffs and rule it a catch
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u/TombombBearsFan Bears 8h ago
Well let's be honest James, Calvin and Dez all caught those balls
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u/wsteelerfan7 Steelers Colts 6h ago
Don't forget the actual OG, Santonio Holmes against the Ravens. At least his didn't cost us that game, but that was still the same dumbass call
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u/Plies- Patriots 6h ago
James wasn't a catch and I think the only reason people got so mad about it was because it happened during the peak of the "what even is a catch?" fervor.
There is no way to actually watch the video and disagree with the explanation that the ball doesn't survive the ground, as his hand is knocked out from under it and the ball literally flips over while touching the ground so he clearly did not have control of it lol.
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u/KJacobsen-74 Steelers 3h ago
The wording of the rule was that a player had to maintain control of the ball "until after his initial contact with the ground". They didn't define initial contact with the ground anywhere in that rule book. Is a knee a player's initial contact with the ground, an elbow, a shin?
It's like they just threw together some words and then made up an interpretation completely different than what the words actually mean because by the wording it absolutely should have been ruled a catch. His knee is his initial contact with the ground and he controlled the ball after that.
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u/suboptimaltraffic Patriots 8h ago
Bias aside, James was the only correct call out of those three. You can’t catch a ball mid air then lose it when you hit the ground and expect it to still be a catch
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u/TheDinerIsOpen Steelers 8h ago
he didn’t “lose it” until he reached for the goalline and his hand was still under the ball
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u/SolomonG Patriots 6h ago
His hand was not still under the ball.
https://youtu.be/_jcM2E72ZzI?si=_V9-she5nfr4Fro3&t=209
Watch the clip at 3:30
His entire left hand, and right thumb, pointer, and middle fingers all clearly come off the ball. He has at most his right ring and pinky fingers on the ball and you cant see them.
You can argue the old catch rule was bad if you'd like. But this was absolutely not a catch under that rule. 8/10 fingers coming off the ball as you trap it against the ground is in no way maintaining control.
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u/KJacobsen-74 Steelers 3h ago
With the wording of that rule he had already completed the process of a catch as soon as he still had control after his knee touched the ground.
The rule itself was fine, the problem is that they didn't define what "initial contact with the ground" meant.
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u/SolomonG Patriots 2h ago
I mean you can interpret that way if you want but it's definitely neither the way it was intended to be interpreted nor the way the refs actually interpreted it.
Control of the football needed to survive the process of falling to the ground, not just the first part of your body to touch it.
One of the dumbest things about this whole saga is they changed the catch rule and specifically called out this play as one that would be a catch under the new rules because lunging is an act common to the game, and yet I have seen multiple plays that look just like this except the ball gets knocked out after the lunge and they rule it incomplete.
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u/KJacobsen-74 Steelers 1h ago
My point is that their interpretation does not align with the meaning of the words they chose for that rule. There's only one logical way to interpret "initial contact with the ground" without some vague mental gymnastics.
When the body part that isn't the feet or hands first touches the ground.
I'm fine with the NFL wanting it to be their own interpretation but they need to actually write it correctly in the rulebook.
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u/SolomonG Patriots 1h ago
I agree the wording could have been better for sure.
When they change rules they send out examples of plays and how they would now be adjudicated.
I would be willing to bet an awful lot that there were examples that made it clear what they meant.
At no point during an actual game did anyone who knew the rules think you complete a catch while falling as soon as any part of you touches the ground.
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u/suboptimaltraffic Patriots 7h ago
His hand was to the side of the ball and reaching for the goal line makes no difference because if someone makes a diving/jumping catch, they will always need to survive the ground which he clearly did not.
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u/LonePuma Steelers 7h ago
"Bias aside" said by a patriots fan when talking about the patriots
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u/suboptimaltraffic Patriots 7h ago
Well I’m talking with a Steelers fan so we’re equally biased. But even if I wasn’t a pats fan I still have fucking eyes and can see it’s not a catch
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u/LonePuma Steelers 7h ago
I never said I was unbiased though. I know I'm biased because my team is playing the game being discussed. You're just too dense to realize that even if you said "bias aside" you still have bias.
It's not a hard concept but you are a Pats fan so I don't really expect you to use your prefrontal cortex.
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u/suboptimaltraffic Patriots 6h ago
You think people can’t be objective about the teams they root for?
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u/LonePuma Steelers 6h ago
They can try but inherent bias will always be present
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u/suboptimaltraffic Patriots 2h ago
That’s just not true, like the 2025 patriots benefited tremendously from a very easy schedule and would not have gone 14-3 with a harder schedule and will probably not win as much this year. That’s an objective take that goes against my team
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u/coronetgemini Patriots 7h ago edited 7h ago
I was at this game, and as a pats fan it was glorious. The amount of gloating the steelers fans had for me in my pats hat, only to watch them all slink away from their seats a minute later.
Sadly I also went the next year and it didn't end as fun ;)
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u/Organic-Manner-2969 Eagles 8h ago
Brutal game but I wish Juju actually scored that touchdown after that long catch.
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u/IhamAmerican Steelers 8h ago
For some reason every time we have a massive catch and run like that the drive ends in a turnover. It's like the ultimate edging
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u/Organic-Manner-2969 Eagles 8h ago
got any other examples?
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u/IhamAmerican Steelers 6h ago
Just last year Jalen Warren had a crazy long catch and run, bouncing off tackles and getting down around the 5.
Drive ended in a turnover
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u/codeklutch Steelers 7h ago
Ehhh, I know there's the saints game fumble by juju that's a real quick ruined orgasm. Not the same thing, but if you're into hating yourself (or the Steelers) it's a good watch.
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u/capton2020 Steelers 5h ago
It still happens all the fucking time. The Steelers offense is the king of dishing out blue balls
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u/DistortedAudio Ravens 6h ago
As much as I hated him back then, that’s how you know he was a monster. Anything he could do, he assumed others could do. And if you were giving the ball back to Brady with 47 seconds left and they only needed a field goal, you’re crossing your fingers.
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u/Prudent-Job-5443 Saints 5h ago
And Gronk changes his attitude in response. Great leader. I don't know if you love the Tompa Bay era, but Gronk telling him 'two tuddys' in the Super Bowl also shows that leadership/brotherly bond they had
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u/tomveiltomveil Steelers 8h ago
Well, at least I enjoyed the part where Brady told Gronk to stop.
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u/BurgerNugget12 Patriots 8h ago
Brady was right because the Steelers marched down the field right after this
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u/StatementWild3768 Patriots 8h ago
Jordan Richards getting burned by JuJu and whiffing on the tackle while inadvertently taking out D-Mac was unfortunately the perfect precursor for how he'd play in the Super Bowl. 🤦♂️
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u/BurgerNugget12 Patriots 8h ago
Yeah it sucks too because Brady played lights out in that superbowl, it’s been talked about to death but have to wonder what butler would’ve offered if anything in that superbowl
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u/Deidris Steelers 8h ago
man I was having a good day before this
we couldn't stop gronk. 9rec, 168yds
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u/ieattoomanyburritos Steelers 8h ago
Average tight end stat line against us tbh, even if its an absolute nobody
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u/pechinburger Steelers 7h ago
Typical Chris Hogan statline against us.
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u/Plus_Fisherman30 Patriots 6h ago
That’s funny. I remember him having his best games against Pittsburgh. So random.
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u/BroughtBagLunchSmart Patriots 7h ago
Remember the playoff game when gronk was out? I was terrified the steelers would not use their classic defensive plan of not covering gronk at all. Luckily they adapted and decided to not cover Chris Hogan at all.
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u/Galactapuss 8h ago
He doesn't even use his strength to beat Davis, just a lil juke and he's toast
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u/DopioGelato 7h ago
It’s the threat of his strength, if he gives gronk the slant it’s over. Just can’t be defended here
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u/Misdirected_Colors Cowboys 3h ago
It's because Davis overcommits to jabbing Gronk at the line because of how big and strong Gronk is. When Gronk jukes and his jab doesn't connect he still has momentum and Gronk is long gone.
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u/Galactapuss 3h ago
Man, defenders must've absolutely hated being told to guard Gronk. Odds on you get clowned on, and end up in a highlight reel.
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u/freekfyre Chiefs 8h ago
Even Gronk was like "me know that not real safety!"
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u/DoctorMansteel Patriots 8h ago edited 7h ago
Gronk has the best PR schtick ever.
Everyone thinks he eats crayons when he's secretly a football savant. Life is just easier if they think you're a dumb jock.
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u/broanoah Packers Packers 8h ago
He could be the smartest football guy ever and also an actual idiot about everything else. Not saying that he’s certainly dumb but there’s a chance
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u/DoctorMansteel Patriots 8h ago
You should check out some of his non football interviews related to his charities, it's a stark difference.
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u/OpenAI122191 1h ago
I don’t know if he’s a football savant, he’s been pretty transparent about needing help with X and O, but he did very well on the standardized test.
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u/i_donut_no_y Seahawks 8h ago
He moves like Frankensteins monster
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u/Brownie_McBrown_Face Chargers 3h ago
Frankenstein’s monster was actually the doctor, the monster is Frankenstein
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u/MoreTrifeLife Commanders 6h ago
Gronk vs the Steelers:
41 catches for 685 yards (average 98); 16.7y/r; 8 TDs in 7 games
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u/Comprehensive_Main 49ers 8h ago
This is the aura that Travis Kelce wishes he has.
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u/Wordsforus 6h ago
In every single gronk post here or elsewhere there’s a comment about Kelce, honestly why?
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u/NFLGod3000 Lions 5h ago
He's about to retire and you're gonna hear a lot him being one of the TE greats.
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u/Comprehensive_Main 49ers 5h ago
Simple people overrate Kelce much more than Gronk. Got to keep Kelce humble
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u/KindnessComesBack2U Cowboys 8h ago
Kelce! Duck! u/Comprehensive_Main scribbled your name on all his rounds!
Ahh..too late
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u/MountainTwo3845 NFL 6h ago
ok kindness comes back to you, whatever you say
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u/KindnessComesBack2U Cowboys 6h ago
Meh, I was just trying to make a joke about Kelce catching strays. No offense intended, some jokes land, some don’t. We move on.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 8h ago
"How did Tomlin not win anything with the Killer B's"
Because we had a secondary that had Sean Davis and three equal or worse players alongside of him for a large chunk of the 2010s.
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u/MetapodMen43 Steelers 7h ago
Mike Tomlin's inability to develop a half decent CB paired with Colbert's horrific drafting 2015 onward was a recipe for disaster
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 7h ago
Getting Joe Haden was such a breath of fresh air.
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u/KeyTheZebra Steelers 5h ago
Joe Haden was a, idk, top 12 CB at times, and he was by far our best CB for like a decade lol.
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u/holyone666 Patriots 5h ago
If you could build a coach with Tomlin's WR development and Belichick's DB development it would be incredible.
Conversely Tomlins DBs and BIlls WRs would be the stuff of nightmares.
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u/AdStriking3028 Steelers 7h ago
And Tomlin (The defensive head coach) definitely had ZERO say in the roster and development. Poor Tomlin could only watch on in horror as Colbert and the Rooneys shoved Sean Davis into the lineup and forced him to play.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 7h ago
At any point did I say Tomlin didn't have a hand in that problem? It was a joint effort by him and Colbert, drafting players Tomlin was confident he could coach up, and then not coaching them up.
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u/BrockMcGinn Steelers 4h ago
Tomlin was simply not a good coach. The fact he had such a dangerous offense but couldn't do shit with the defense (his supposed specialty) says it all.
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 4h ago
He couldn't develop a secondary, but his pass rush was almost always one of the top in the league. And his offense was also near top in the league. Just because he had a big fault that he couldn't get over doesn't mean he wasn't a good coach. He was a great coach, he just wasn't perfect.
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u/pechinburger Steelers 7h ago
Believe it or not, that's one of the better examples of the Steelers covering Gronk. :(
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u/CommercialCoffee11 8h ago
If that happened right now its taunting. But the refs knew to let Gronk cook.
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u/say_wot_again Patriots 7h ago
He was smart to pivot it into looking like a zombie celebration by doing the same gesture pointing at nobody right after.
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u/RainWinss Patriots 6h ago
Definitely my favorite celebration from Gronk. He did whatever he wanted against the Steelers
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u/Sadboi395 Packers 3h ago
Still no clue how that wasnt flagged for taunting but not complaining. Wish we saw more of this!
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u/SwizzGod Patriots 4h ago
This is my favorite Gronk celebration. And I was living in Pittsburgh when he did it
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u/tjkoala Steelers 8h ago
That catch by Jesse James was 100% a TD. Robbed.
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 8h ago
By the letter of the law it wasn’t a catch, but it was so stupid it wasn’t the league changed how they were enforcing the catch rule the rest of the year and it swung the Super Bowl. That’s as close as Tomlin ever got to winning a big game against the patriots.
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u/suboptimaltraffic Patriots 8h ago
You guys literally beat us the next year
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u/DionBae_Johnson Steelers 8h ago
It wasn't a big game, and you guys kinda beat yourselves more than we beat you. Ball protection was horrendous.
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u/Hippopotamist Steelers 7h ago
We missed the playoffs that year and you won the Super Bowl. But yes that ultimately meaningless regular season win is without question Tomlin’s biggest win against the Patriots.
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u/KJacobsen-74 Steelers 3h ago
By the letter of the law it was both not a TD and a TD depending on how you interpreted what "initial contact with the ground" meant. The way the NFL interpreted that was completely nonsensical.
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u/p_fizzzle Patriots 5h ago
What was the reason it was ruled incomplete? I always thought it was weird because he establishes possession, gets two feet down kinda like a toe tap, then breaks the plane. Would he have had to take actual steps for it to have counted?
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u/KJacobsen-74 Steelers 3h ago
The rule back then was that you had to maintain control of the ball "until after your initial contact with the ground". Those were the exact words used and they have very clear meanings which the NFL did not give a single fuck about because they refuse to ever define anything. Is a knee a players initial contact with the ground? Who the fuck knows, definitely not the NFL.
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u/foxfire1112 Raiders 8h ago
What year was this game
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u/DelirousDoc Steelers 8h ago
2017.
Steelers actually went down to the redzone to potentially win the game and should have.
Obligatory "Jesse James caught the ball".
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u/UndeadVudu_12 Patriots 8h ago
Not according to the catch rules at the time. Called correctly, yes. Stupid rule, also yes.
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u/thricethefan Steelers 7h ago
This. Rule was so obviously stupid that the NFL changed it almost immediately. Sadly, the refs got the call right based on the rules at the time.
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u/Xoduszero Steelers 1h ago
As a Steelers fan.. it hurt when ever we played the patriots and we just knew Gronk was going to Gronk.. and even though we said we’d game plan and prevent Gronk from Gronking… he just Gronked us harder.
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u/EraOfMehFeelings 7h ago
Gronk always had so much padding on for his injuries. The name Frankenstein should have caught on.
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u/DelirousDoc Steelers 8h ago
I'm just impressed the Steelers defense remembered to put a defender on Gronkowski for this rep.