Say this for the Patriots; they don’t always make it easy on their fans.
After trailing for most of Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the New England team pulled ahead with less than three minutes left and never looked back.
The win sends the team to the Super Bowl on Feb. 4, the team's eighth since 2002.
Inside Norwich Harp & Dragon Pub, patrons stared intently at television screens, letting out the occasional cheer or groan as the seconds ticked down. Norwich resident Glenn Gould kept his cool, though.
“The last four minutes, this is what the Patriots do,” he said. “Tom Brady doesn’t get flustered. This was a super game.”
Eastern Connecticut football fans gathered in local pubs and sports bars on Sunday to watch and, mostly, cheer the New England Patriots fight their way to yet another Super Bowl appearance.
Inside the Longshots Sports Cafe in Uncasville, the whistling, shouting and applause ratcheted up soon after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took the field — an appearance some fans worried wouldn’t happen after speculation over a hand injury made the rounds.
“Without Brady, we’d basically be one concussion away from not having a quarterback,” Uncasville resident Tyson Puetz said. “These games are always suspenseful no matter how many championships they’ve won.”
Fans sporting Patriots jerseys, knit hats and bandana craned their necks toward banks of televisions as mugs of beer and plates of appetizers piled up. But despite the overwhelming number of New England fans in the bar, there were still a few patrons engaging in a little spite-watching.
“I’m a Packers fan, so I’m here while my husband — a Patriots fan — is home with our three children,” North Stonington resident Amanda Comeau said. ‘So he’s making hamburgers and hot dogs and I get to come out and have margaritas and watch the game. Not having your team playing makes watching a lot less stressful. You can enjoy it.”
For longtime New England fan Ed Cawley of Ledyard, watching his team play, even one as successful as the Patriots, never gets old.
“At 52, I’m old enough to remember when the team was horrible,” he said.
Down the road at Arooga’s sports bar, 15-year-old Murlan Balidemaj of Norwich settled in as the Patriots began their first drive of the game.
“I feel a lot better knowing Tom Brady is playing,” he said. “It was a big worry for me.”
New London resident Rob Thomas, typically a Baltimore Raven fan, came out to cheer on the Jaguars.
“It was a good game and I never thought the Patriots were going to lay down,” he said. "But for the Super Bowl, I want anyone but the Patriots to win.”
Lebanon resident Michael Champa said though New England doesn’t necessarily boast a huge sports dynasty like the New York Yankees, the region can count on a much broader scope of champions.
“It’s nice to have the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Bruins under one New England nation,” he said. “And as far as Brady’s hand, I wasn’t worried he be out on the field. He’s a tough 40-year-old.”