Not to be incendiary, but I kinda think the liberation of Alan Branch is a bigger deal for our Championship hopes than losing Gronk to IR.
On O we have depth and backfill, with Bennett plus the deepest WR and RB unts that the team has had for many years. We can recover from losing Gronk. Plus the OL has regained its Championship form, which makes everything possible on that side of the ball.
At DT, there's Brown and Valentine (rookie) and then the depth chart falls off a cliff. Branch is an anchor for us against the run, and the blocked FG against the Jets just underlines the significance of his contributions.
If we win the SB this year it's because guys like Sheard, Flowers, McClellen, Van Noy and Rowe kick it into gear. For that to happen it will be up to Branch and Long and McCourty and Hightower and Chung to set the tone, create the framework for the rest of unit. Still a work in progress.
If the Pats manage to win it all, the story of this season will be about the emergence of their D. And getting Branch back makes that a lot more achievable,m than if he were out for four games just when the team needed his veteran leadership the most.