DENVER — The hands of Rob Gronkowski seemed to reach from somewhere beyond the back of the end zone with 12 seconds left to snatch a Tom Brady pass out of the sky over Broncos cornerback Chris Harris.
The touchdown pulled the Patriots to within two points and nearly pulled out the comeback win, but the Patriots could not convert the two-point conversion and their season is over. But Gronkowski looked like he might will the Patriots into Super Bowl 50 at times in the second half.
“I still don’t know how he caught that ball,” Brady said. “I was kind of retreating, retreating, trying to buy some time and just saw him break out and let it go. It was a great play.”
Gronkowksi finished with eight catches for 144 yards and the touchdown, making two huge fourth-down catches, including the touchdown, in the fourth quarter after he dealt with cramping in the third quarter.
“I had a route to go either way, and when I saw the guy inside, the guy outside, I was just like, ‘screw it. I’ve got to go whatever way it is,’ ” Gronkowski said. “I went out. Tom just threw it up in the air and just had to go up and make a play.”
The second half explosion came after the Broncos did a pretty good job against the giant Patriots tight end in the first half. He had only two catches for 24 yards in the first half and looked frustrated by how much contact he was dealing with from the Broncos defenders.
In the third quarter he got loose for a 31-yard pass on the second Patriots play of the half. He exited the game with cramps. Gronkowski was not down for long, though. He returned on the next series and then showed up in a huge way in the fourth quarter.
It looked like Gronkowski might score the huge touchdown earlier in the fourth quarter. On fourth-and-6 from the Broncos’ 14 with 2:25 left, Brady threw the ball up for grabs in Gronkowski’s direction, but it was batted away by Aqib Talib. Gronkowski complained to the officials, but no flag was thrown.
“Was I held? I don’t know,” Gronkowski said. “I felt like I was because I couldn’t even jump. I felt like Aqib had me.”
The Patriots would got the ball back again with 1:52 left at the 50. After going nowhere on the first three downs, Brady went in Gronkowski’s direction on fourth-nand-10. He threw a deep pass over Harris and Broncos safety Josh Bush into Gronkowski’s hands for a 40-yard gain with just about one minute left. Brady would go Gronkowksi’s way again on fourth-and-goal from the 4 and Gronkowski somehow came up with the touchdown, but it was not quite enough.