It took longer than anyone in New England would have liked for the Patriots to have quarterback Tom Brady and tight end Rob Gronkowski together on the field at Gillette Stadium this season, but the first taste was worth the wait.
On third-and-nine on his first home drive of the season, Brady stepped up in the pocket and found Gronkowski for a 32-yard gain down the left sideline. That play was met with almost as much noise from the crowd as Brady got when he first ran on the field and moved the Patriots into Bengals territory, but things didn’t get much further.
James White and Brady picked up a couple of yards each on runs, but Brady threw the ball away under pressure from Carlos Dunlap on third down. Stephen Gostkowski made a 46-yard field goal to give the Pats a 3-0 lead.
Brady was 2-of-4 for 33 yards overall on the drive.