Goose/Pro/All other PG.com Patriots fans:
I'm 28, but grew up in Norfolk about 2.5-3.0 miles from Foxboro Stadium. My entire elementary school years were LITTERED with kids in Bledsoe, Curtis Martin, Ben Coates, Terry Glenn, Teddy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Lawyer Milloy, and Ty Law jerseys. Hell, my favorite jersey was my 1998/1999 Robert Edwards jersey (RIP to his poor knee). Maybe because I was so close to the stadium I never noticed a 'bandwagon' effect people like to throw around. People have always been pretty die-hard about all four pro teams here IMO. Were there really more Patriots fans in greater Boston after 2001? Or is that just a blanket statement people outside of New England like to use?...
Regardless - I texted my father at halftime "Not worried, we have Tom"... and re-iterated it mid-third quarter at 28-3 with a "well, we need to be perfect from here on out...". We pretty much were perfect from that point out (with Atlanta the complete opposite of that). In the end, with all the accusations being thrown around the media between Brady, Goodell, Kraft, Deflategate (what a farce!). Belichick, Trump, etc... I think that this was the most satisfying one. Recency bias, sure. But I think this one stands up among the rest.
Congrats fellas!