The China Mail - Evil Empire to underdogs: Patriots eye 7th Super Bowl

But the new-look Patriots who play the Seattle Seahawks at Sunday's Super Bowl LX have a very different tag -- the underdogs.

Having failed to even reach the playoffs for the past three years, nobody in September gave new head coach Mike Vrabel and his team a sniff of winning what would be a record-breaking seventh title.

Even now that they have reached the Super Bowl, many pundits point to a forgiving schedule -- and the luck of facing Denver in the AFC Championship game after Broncos quarterback Bo Nix broke his ankle.

"At this point it is what it is. We're in the Super Bowl now, the last two teams standing," shrugged Patriots tackle Khyiris Tonga.

"We can't wait to go to war on Sunday and take care of business."

Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls as a player alongside Brady, admits that his former Patriots team can be considered a dynasty -- but it's not a tag he's remotely ready to contemplate for the roster he now coaches.

"I don't know where the 'dynasty' would come from,' he told reporters.

"We're just trying to build a program. And the first year of the program, we ended up here."

- 'Commanding' -

The turnaround is stunning.

Before Vrabel took over, New England had only managed to win four games in each of their previous two seasons.

This season, they won 14 -- a 10-game swing that has never been topped.

For Vrabel, who appears to relish the underdog moniker, it is simply about keeping the "focus on things that we can realistically improve."

"I would say the majority of Americans... are more underdogs than they are favorites," he said.

"Favorites are the talented elite, top ten percent... We're trying to make the 80 percent a little bit better."

Standout players include veteran wide receiver Stefon Diggs, picked up as a free agent by the Patriots in March, and TreVeyon Henderson, already vying to be first-choice running back in his rookie year with explosive rushes.

And then of course there is quarterback Drake Maye, a favorite for this season's Most Valuable Player.

In just his second season, the 23-year-old would be the youngest starting QB to win a Super Bowl.

"He's very mature. I was with him last year, I think he made a great jump this year, just in his leadership role," running back Rhamondre Stevenson told AFP.

"He's commanding the huddle well. He's telling the offense what he needs to see. He's doing a great job."

- 'Lucky' -

Of course, for fans of rival teams with fewer -- or zero -- Super Bowls in their trophy cabinets, the notion of the Patriots as plucky underdogs might be hard to swallow.

Even Patriots linebacker Christian Elliss admits that "honestly, our fans are pretty lucky that we've won six already."

Still, a seventh Lombardi trophy would break the Patriots' current joint-record haul of six with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and give New England the standalone record.

"It would be historic," Ellis told AFP. "The city deserves it. The fans deserve it. We've had a few down years."

"No one wanted us to be here. No one expected us to be here."

B.Clarke--ThChM