Over the last couple of decades, the Patriots have indeed had “a lot of success.” According to the number crunchers over at FiveThirtyEight, there’s never been an NFL dynasty like the Patriots. Since 2002, there have been 18 Super Bowls, and the Pats have played in nine of them, winning six. No other team comes close to that record over that short of a time period.
Cites:
The Patriots Dynasty Just Won’t Die
There’s Really Never Been An NFL Dynasty Like The Patriots
The Patriots Are The NFL’s Greatest Dynasty
Everyone likes the underdog. Case in point – those lovable losers (until 2016, anyway) the Chicago Cubs, who are the most liked MLB team in the country.
Nobody likes a team that consistently dominates a sport. Case in point – the most hated MLB team in the country is the New York Yankees. Cite: America Has Spoken: The Yankees Are The Worst
With respect to the Patriots, all that crap about Deflategate and the like is mostly just sour grapes. Deflategate in particular was also a bunch of overblown B.S., as I noted on the SDMB here and here.
I mean, give me a break. The New Orleans Saints were giving out bounties to their players to intentionally injure players on opposing teams, a despicable tactic that started the year they won the Super Bowl…and people make less of this than the allegations lobbed at the Patriots. Hearing people whine about Deflategate is like hearing people complain about Hillary’s emails.
With all that said, the vitriol directed at the Pats seems to have spurred them on in recent years. Tom Brady especially seems to still feel he needs to prove the haters wrong, so there is that.