The best measure of whether or not a team is respected nationally is its record against the spread. According to this fantastic site that Bill Simmons suggested, the Pats were 40-13-1 against the spread in their 3 SuperBowl seasons. A team theoretically should have a .500 record against the spread, so if they consistently outperform, you have to assume they're being underrated.
When football fans from other cities would say that they were tired of hearing the Pats say "Nobody believed in us" after each title, I remember thinking that there was probably data to back up my team's argument. Now we have that data :-)
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