Veteran quarterback Tom Brady seemed eager to cash in on the rarest of labels for his Patriots after reaching his eighth straight AFC championship game.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The too-old, too-injured, too-slow 40-something quarterback had just reached his 13th career, and eighth consecutive AFC championship game and he seemed eager to cash in on the rarest of labels for his New England Patriots — underdogs.
“I know everyone thinks we suck and, you know, we can’t win any games,” Tom Brady said, enjoying it all.
The criticism of these Patriots has been so vocal and so widespread that it has managed to do the impossible. The greatest dynasty in NFL history, one seeking its third consecutive Super Bowl appearance, is now playing the “nobody-believes-in-us” card.
Seriously, the plucky Patriots.
Early in the fourth quarter, with New England easily en route to a 41-28 annihilation of the Los Angeles Chargers here, they even blared “Livin’ on a Prayer”, the anthem of the near-hopeless. The crowd (which included Jon Bon Jovi himself) howled along like it was somehow true.
Down on their luck. It’s tough. So tough.
“Our quarterback is too old, we aren’t good enough on defense, our skill players aren’t good enough. We see it,” said defensive captain Devin McCourty.
What have the pundits of professional football done? The Patriots are the last team that needs the emotional lift of having a chip on their shoulder. They are playing Kansas City, which just won its second playoff game in a quarter century, but it’s New England no one believes in?
New England hasn’t needed this since 2001, Brady’s first season as a starter, where the Patriots, of course, won the Super Bowl.
Ever since, this is the league’s evil empire, an unmovable, albeit not unbeatable, force that each January makes sure this entire NFL operation still runs through them. Brady in his 20s. Brady in his 30s. Brady in his 40s. It doesn’t matter.
And so no matter how many declared them ready-for-burial, the Patriots had a simple message as they throttled the Chargers.
Ain’t Dead Yet.
