The Patriots lost Rob Gronkowski for the season on Sunday, but they also won in pretty epic fashion.
After Gronkowski was carted off the field with what is reportedly a torn ACL, the Patriots rallied around their fallen star and were able to pull off one of the most incredible comebacks of the season.
Trailing 19-3 with less than a minute left in the third quarter, Tom Brady and Shane Vereen jumpstarted the Patriots’ offense, rolling to 27 second-half points, including two touchdowns in the final 1:01 to secure the win.
The win almost didn’t happen, though, as lots had to go right for the Patriots to actually pull off the epic comeback. A pretty touchdown catch by Julian Edelman with 1:01 left to play followed by an incredible onside kick by Stephen Gostkowski gave New England the ball back with a five-point deficit and 55 seconds to play. What followed was an incredible amount of precision, resiliency and just a hint of luck — oh and, of course, a Cundiff.
Brady completed one pass to Danny Amendola for a quick 10-yard gain followed by a deep bomb to rookie Josh Boyce into the end zone. The pass was on the money, but Boyce couldn’t quite get to it. However, his effort drew a flag on Brown cornerback Leon McFadden, giving the Patriots the ball down at the one-yard line with 35 seconds left. Brady finished the drive on the next play, hitting Amendola on a short route at the goal line to give the Patriots the one-point lead with almost no time left.
The Browns had one last prayer at the win, driving into Patriots territory and giving kicker Billy Cundiff a shot to win it from 58 yards out. The kick was straight and true, but he ultimately Cundiffed it — yup, it’s a verb — and came up just short of the crossbar.
Check out the epic comeback in a GIF timeline below.
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GIFS via BuzzFeedSports and SBNation GIF
