I honestly rather be underdogs, I personally think its the kiss of death once everyone and all the analyst start picking you to be great and go far.
I know we earned respect last year in what we were able to do on the field. Since we've been significantly better on paper, I think anything short of another Conference Championship Game appearance with this "super team" we've put together would be considered a failure. I don't doubt we won't get there. I'd just rather reach it for a 2nd and maybe 3rd time before going around asking for respect. This really isn't any different than the "Who's the team to beat right now in the AFC East" question. Getting the respect that we're the team to beat means nothing to me. Until we actually win the Division consistently for a series of years, to me, I'd say it's still the Patriots.
