Patriots Defense Enters Super Bowl With ‘Chip On Their Shoulder’

The New England Patriots are ready to prove the doubters wrong once again.

New England’s defense has been one of the best units throughout the season, but the team doesn’t believe it gets the credit it deserves. Star defensive tackle Milton Williams believes the Patriots’ defense hasn’t been given credit, as people put the blame on the other team’s offense, rather than their defense.

“If we win, they ain’t gonna have no choice,” Williams said, via the team website. “But they’ll probably still find an excuse or make up something – somebody played badly, or I don’t know.

“Going into the game, you always hear about this offense, what they’re going to do and all this and that. Then, when we play them, it’s an excuse for why they didn’t do what they said they would do instead of just giving us credit, and we thrive on that.”

Patriots linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson also echoed Williams’ comments. But, he believes all the doubt puts a chip on their shoulder.

“It’s definitely added (fuel), for sure,” Chaisson said. “I think everybody tends to play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder, and they’ve been overlooked. In some cases, it may be disrespectful. So, we hear the noise.”

The Patriots enter Super Bowl LX as a 4.5-point underdog, and if New England wins, head coach Mike Vrabel knows the defense will be a big reason why.

“Well, they’ve been continuing to improve,” Vrabel said. “I think most of the people on our team, our coaching staff, have continued to improve. And that’s what you have to do for the teams that want to be here.

“Talked about the ones that are playing the best football late are the ones that are usually in the playoffs. And that continues to happen. So, I give them a lot of credit, defensively, for what they’ve done. We’ll need our best effort on Sunday.”

Kick-off for Super Bowl LX is set for 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.