Patriots Country

Patriots Legend Rob Gronkowski Predicts Super Bowl LVIII Winner

Former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski predicts the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl LVIII.

Geoff Magliocchetti

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New England Patriots franchise legend Rob Gronkowski believes a team tied to Ezekiel Elliott can win the Super Bowl this season. Alas, for those hoping to find believers in the Patriots he left behind, that faith is instead bestowed upon Elliott's former employer.

With legitimate, educated guesses about the 2023 NFL season rolling in as kickoff gets closer, Gronkowski is a believer in the Dallas Cowboys joining the Patriots in the brotherhood of six Vince Lombardi Trophy hoists. The future Hall-of-Famer appeared on FanDuel's "Up & Adams" program to explain his positioning last week, claiming that he's partly attracted to Dallas due to its lack of status as the odds-on favorite.

"I'm going to go with the Dallas Cowboys," Gronkowski told eponymous host Kay Adams, who asked which team would earn the tight end's money in a Super Bowl bet. "You don't always want to be the favorites, because then you don't win too much. So I feel like the Dallas Cowboys, they have pretty good odds to win some money if they win it all."

Despite not winning a title in 27 years, Dallas frequently appears on the short list of contenders to win the Super Bowl no matter how dire their seasons usually look. But there's legitimate hope with the sheer amount of star power (pun intended) behind the current group. Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs return on defense while the offense remains at least a consistent threat behind the retained talents of CeeDee Lamb, Tony Pollard, and Dak Prescott.

Having said that, Dallas certainly won't be many bettors' first choice when it comes to the NFC's Super Bowl rep, that honor more than likely bestowed to the defending conference finalists from Philadelphia or San Francisco. He nonetheless joins Jim Nantz, CBS' top NFL play-by-play man, among those who see the Cowboys crashing Las Vegas' first Super Bowl come February. Nantz sees the Cowboys facing off against Buffalo, New England's AFC East rival, to set up a rematch of the big game's 27th and 28th editions. 

Gronkowski praised the talent that Dallas brought in to complement their ravishing regulars as the reason why this year's edition can finally break a championship drought that's nearing three decades. Those imports include receiver Brandon Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who collaborated with Gronkowski on the Patriots' last Super Bowl run, a 13-3 triumph over the Los Angeles Rams in game 53. 

"(Cook is) a super fast player, can go downfield, he'll be a great complement to CeeDee Lamb," Gronkowski said. "They added Stephon Gilmore ... he was Defensive Player of the Year a couple of years ago and I think he's going to make a great comeback this year and play at a high level.

"I feel like this is the year they just get over that edge."

Plenty has been said about Dallas' lack of championship success since their fifth and most recent title run, which ended with a win in Super Bowl XXX against Pittsburgh nearly three decades ago. Dallas has not returned to the NFC title game since then, though they're coming off their first string of consecutive playoff berths for the first time since 2006-07.

Gronkowski knows what it's like to stifle North Texas momentum: in three career games against the Cowboys, he put up 231 yards on 19 receptions, two of which went for scores. He'll no doubt be watching when the Cowboys and Patriots do battle later this season as the teams are due to meet in Arlington on Oct. 1 as part of Week 4 action.

Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags

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Geoff Magliocchetti
GEOFF MAGLIOCCHETTI

Geoff Magliocchetti

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