The Patriots are taking their underdog status in stride

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It's something that's rarer than getting a holographic Charizard in a pack of Pokemon cards (I probably really just dated myself and now I feel old). The New England Patriots are, in fact, underdogs this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes and friends are three-point favorites to dethrone the reigning AFC champs. Not only that, but the Patriots have been disrespected in the media left and right. ESPN is giving them the lowest chance to win the Super Bowl of the four teams remaining (15%), Max Kellerman beat his wife when they were in college is rivaling Rob Parker for public enemy No. 1, and so on. 

At least Shannon Sharpe admitted his hatred is due to them winning so much.

According to the worldwide leader, this is the first time since Week 2 of the 2015 season that the Patriots have been underdogs with Tom Brady as their quarterback. The last time they were underdogs in the playoffs was the 2013 AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos. 

And while the Pats have not been in this position very often in the Bill Belichick era, they have seemed to really embrace it. It started last Sunday when Tom Brady was interviewed on CBS after New England beat the L.A. Chargers in the divisional round and said he knows people think they suck and can't win any games. 

Of course that's a bit over-dramatic, but he let us all know that they have heard everything. 

Julian Edelman followed that up with a hype video with the hashtag #BetAgainstUs, which will make you want to run through a brick wall. 




Then there was Devin McCourty's interview on ESPN earlier in the week where he piggybacked off of what Brady said last Sunday.

“I think people always hear it,” the veteran safety said. “I think for us as a group, you lose, I think we lost five out of eight games on the road, you know, each time, each week we lose, people tell us we’re too old, we’re not good, we’re not good enough on defense, offense. That builds up. And we block the noise out as far as preparing, but you still hear that. It still motivates you. And this team follows Tom, and I thought he’s done a great job of just leading us throughout the year.”

We still have a couple of days to go until Sunday night, but it sounds like the Patriots will be more than ready to go.

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