An International Statement

By Michael Quagliana 

The New England Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams 45-7 on Sunday at Wembley Stadium in London. This marked the sixth straight season that the NFL flew two teams across the pond to showcase its product to a growing fan base. That fan base didn’t witness much of a contest, but they did witness one of the game’s top receivers at his best.

(AP Photo/Getty Images)

Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots’ tight end, caught eight passes for 146 yards and two scores. It was his second game in a row with two touchdowns, and his seventh touchdown of the season overall. His seven scores are tied for the league lead amongst all receivers, and his 580 receiving yards lead all tight ends. This is coming off a 2011 season in which “The Gronk” racked up 1,327 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns – both all time single season NFL records at the position.

Gronkowski’s production is closer to that of a number-one wide receiver than that of a tight end. Between the historic season and the Patriots’ run to the Super Bowl in 2011, his talents were brought to a national audience. Sunday marked his eleventh career multi-touchdown game in just his third season. His chemistry with Tom Brady continues to be unbreakable. At just the age of 23, the 6’ 6”, 265-pound tight end still has plenty of years ahead of him to continue his game-changing production.

Gronkowski received criticism in the offseason for a viral video taken of him dancing in the club, on a supposed ankle injury, within 24 hours of losing Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants in February. On Sunday, Gronkowski made even more headlines for his dance moves, this time following each of his touchdowns. The fallback has been much more light-hearted this week among fans and the media. It seems pretty simple – if Gronkowski keeps scoring touchdowns and the Patriots keep winning games, he has the approval to cut a rug whenever he so chooses.

Week 7: Top Fantasy Performances

By Gabriella Rusk

(AP Photo)

With ten regular season games left, some NFL players are beginning major comebacks and are inspiring fantasy owners everywhere.

Chris Johnson is a prime example. 

Despite a sluggish start, this week Johnson finally picked up the pace and proved why he was a top five fantasy draft pick.  Johnson broke off a touchdown run of 16 yards in the first quarter only to top that eight minutes later with a 83 yard touchdown run.  Scoring for the first time in eleven games, Johnson finished the game with 195 rushing yards on 18 carries and two scores, rewarding his faithful fantasy owners.  The 10.8 yards per carry, was the second-best mark of his career.

Another running back returned to the good graces last week and that guy is Matt Forte. On Monday night, Forte showed he has finally overcome his ankle injury by collecting 96 rushing yards on 22 carries for Da Bears. Although he has only scored one touchdown this season, as long as Forte can stay healthy, he will remain an integral part to the Bears’ offense.

Rob Gronkowski, finally found the end zone in Sunday’s game against the Jets for the first time in two weeks. Catching six passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns, Gronkowski notched up the team’s only offensive scores in their 29-26-overtime victory over New York. Gronk came into the season as the No. 1 fantasy tight end and owners can expect the Gronk TD spikes to keep on coming.

Lastly, wide receiver Jordy Nelson appears to have no intention of letting up. Greg Jennings’s groin injury has given Nelson the opportunity to be the Packers’ No. 1 receiver and he’s taken full advantage of it. Nelson has gone for over 100 yards in each of the past two games, including a 9 catch, 121 yards and 3-touchdown performance on October 14 at Houston.

All of these four players are quickly emerging as key members to their respective NFL teams and solid starters for their fantasy owners. With the fantasy trade deadline looming, you might want to make a move to snag one of these guys, just saying.