Gonzalez operated in tight quarters
FOXBOROUGH - Tony Gonzalez will tell you he became acquainted with Bill Belichick at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii after the 2006 season. The Patriots coach told everyone last week how much respect he has for the Atlanta Falcons tight end, generally regarded as one of the best to play the position. So it wasn’t surprising that after New England’s 26-10 win yesterday, Gonzalez was one Falcon Belichick sought out to shake hands.
“He came up to me after the game,’’ said Gonzalez. “I’m not going to tell you exactly what he said, but it was something to the effect of, ‘We had the double-team waiting for you.’ ’’
Belichick’s defense was designed and determined not to let Gonzalez make a difference. Gonzalez is in his first year with Atlanta after 12 seasons in Kansas City building his reputation, and he had paid quick dividends with 12 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
He never broke loose yesterday as the Patriots held him to one catch for 16 yards, and that was on the second play of the fourth quarter with the Patriots leading by 9 during a drive that ended with a punt.
“They were definitely playing to my side,’’ said Gonzalez. “Any time I beat a guy there would be another guy waiting for me. They did the same thing they always do to me, bracket coverage. Every time I play against him, it seems like I am going to get bracketed.
“It was expected and obviously it is not a good thing for me, although it gets everyone else open. We were able to make plays down the field and guys were getting open. I have been around a long time and for me it is somewhat a sign of respect. I feel that if I get single coverage I am going to make them pay for it eventually.’’
Bracket coverage is the newest coachspeak for double-teaming a receiver, but it’s usually reserved for the best wide receivers, not tight ends.
“He’s a great tight end, a Hall of Fame tight end, he’s got records,’’ said Patriots safety Brandon McGowan, who many times was one half of the bracket. “With a player like that, you always have to game plan him. Of course, our plan worked.’’
It worked so well that Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan only threw two passes in Gonzalez’s direction.
“They did a good job and, to a certain degree, we expected that from them after the couple of weeks Tony’s had early in the season,’’ said Ryan.
Despite his lack of production, Gonzalez wasn’t unhappy with his team’s offense even considering the final score, and he had a disagreement with the officials.
“We were going in the right direction except for a couple of times when we hurt ourselves,’’ he said. “If we don’t fumble at end of the first half, who knows?’’ The fumble occurred with 4:05 left when Michael Turner was tackled by McGowan at the New England 31.
The call Gonzalez disagreed with was an offensive pass interference penalty on Falcons wide receiver Michael Jenkins that nullified a 36-yard TD pass in the third quarter.
“That was definitely a questionable call in the end zone; I didn’t agree with it,’’ Gonzalez said. “If that’s not called, who knows?’’
The final analysis is the final score wasn’t close and Gonzalez had just one catch.
“If I don’t get open, I don’t think that’s going to hurt our offense, we have too many weapons,’’ said Gonzalez. “As long as everyone else is making plays, that’s all that counts.
“At this point in my career, I don’t care if I don’t catch a pass as long as other players are making plays. That wouldn’t have been the case four or five years ago. I would have been completely in the tank, really frustrated.’’
Joe Sullivan can be reached at jtsullivan@globe.com 
