Rightly or wrongly, the New England Patriots have been playing up the notion that they’re underdogs this postseason.
When the playoffs began, they heard — or likely were told in a team meeting — that most NFL pundits were questioning them after their uneven 11-5 regular season; that tight end Rob Gronkowski is a shell of himself; that the offense isn’t what it used to be; that 41-year-old Tom Brady is too old.
After their divisional-round win over the Los Angeles Chargers, Brady said, “I know everybody thinks we suck.