FOXBORO, Mass. — Well, that escalated quickly.
The New England Patriots responded to a Cincinnati Bengals mini-rally Sunday night by taking the ball into the end zone on consecutive plays.
First, Tom Brady’s 16-yard touchdown pass to Rob Gronkowski put the Patriots up 27-10 with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter. It was Brady’s second scoring strike of the evening.
Then the Patriots’ special teams unit got in on the fun.
Brandon Bolden stripped Bengals return man (and former Patriot) Brandon Tate on the ensuing kickoff. Kyle Arrington gathered the loose ball, scampered the final 9 yards and front-flipped over the goal line for the touchdown. The Patriots went on to win 43-17.
