Tom Brady thinks Mike Vrabel is using this to prep Patriots for Super Bowl

The New England Patriots silenced the critics all the way to the Super Bowl.

While they had the second-easiest strength of schedule in the NFL, per Sharp Football Analysis, they got through three top-five defenses in the playoffs.

Even so, the Seahawks are 4.5-point favorites ahead of Super Bowl LX, according to most sportsbooks. 

That's why Tom Brady believes that Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is making the most of that label to fuel his locker room's fire ahead of the big game.

Mike Vrabel will embrace the 'underdog' tag, says Tom Brady

Talking to Colin Cowherd, the seven-time Super Bowl champion guaranteed that Vrabel is looking to give that 'underdog' label a positive spin.

"Knowing Vrabel, he's probably got every bit of underdog material up everywhere," Brady told Cowherd. "We were 14-point underdogs in 2001; Vrabes was a part of that team. Believe him, if you think the Seahawks, I'm sure, he's gonna be telling the entire team that Colin Cowherd picked the Seahawks."

Whatever works for motivation. On paper, the Patriots will be in for the toughest challenge of the season. That said, anything can happen in one game.

The Seahawks gave up the fewest points per game in the regular season (17.2) and scored the third-most (28.4). Likewise, the Patriots averaged the second-most points per game (28.8) and gave up the fourth-fewest (18.8). 

Regardless of the competition, teams can only beat whoever is in front of them, and this matchup might be much closer than what oddsmakers and analysts think it'll be.