The Patriots top ranked offense was firing on all cylinders in London as they rolled over the St. Louis Rams 45-7, but hands down the biggest star on the field was tight end Rob Gronkowski. While the irrepressible Gronk might not seem to be a natural fit for European fans of American football, he may have just become the face of the NFL in Europe. Gronkowski caught 8 passes for 146 yards and 2 TDs, but scored points with British fans for his unorthodox touchdown celebrations.
Gronkowski started getting headlines before the game even started, when he Gronk-spiked (and completely destroyed) a microphone while answering questions on stage with members of his team. To be fair, some international members of Gronk Nation started chanting “spike the mike” which apparently was too much for Gronkowski to pass on, as you can see in the video below. The reaction of his teammates may be the funniest part of the video.
After scoring his first touchdown, he marched back and forth in what was apparently a tribute to the British Royal Guard. As you can see in the video, it wasn’t immediately clear what the touchdown celebration was directed at, but the British fans seemed to understand and reacted very positively.
His teammates, on the other hand, were a little less certain. “I don’t know what the hell he was doing on that first one,” Brady said. “I was trying to get out of the way. He needs some work on that.”
Gronkowski’s comment on the celebration was a little more, well… typically Gronk. When asked who he was honoring with his touchdown celebration, Gronkowski responded, “That little nutcracker dude that’s guarding the house.”
“I like how he just sits there and stays still. It’s pretty cool.”
Brady and the Patriots offense were nearly flawless, as Brady finished 23 of 35 for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns. On top of Brady and Gronkowski, the Patriots running game continued to rack up the yards as they topped 150 yards as a team led by Stevan Ridley, who finished with 15 carries for 127 yards and 1 TD, averaging 8.5 yards per carry.
The Rams scored first, taking an early 7-0 lead, but the Patriots responded by scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions quickly putting the game out of reach. Rams quarterback Sam Bradford finished 22 of 30 for 205 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
“You can’t ask for a better start to the game. First time we touched the ball we go down and score,” Bradford said. “It just all fell apart from there.”
“It’s embarrassing the way we played tonight,” Bradford added. “Just embarrassing.”
The Patriots go into their bye week with the offense feeling pretty good, and looking to continue to work on their secondary, which played much better today. If they can improve their pass defense just marginally, they could well be on track for another Super Bowl run.
“We certainly haven’t played our best football yet,” Brady said. “Coach says the season doesn’t start until after Thanksgiving, and it isn’t even Halloween yet.”
Love it!!! He had such a good game!!!i realy enjoyed.