Carlton Davis: 'I feel like it’s going to be another surprise win'
He's been a Super Bowl underdog before, and his Bucs destroyed KC. Carlton Davis can now see history repeating itself. We sit down with the rugged corner. These Patriots sure feel disrespected.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — This isn’t quite Joe Namath guaranteeing a Super Bowl triumph ahead of Super Bowl III. But Carlton Davis tends to bring a throwback swagger to these championship moments. One week ahead of facing Tyreek Hill in Super Bowl LV five years ago, he answered a cold call from Go Long and was extremely confident. He didn’t care that Hill torched him earlier that 2020 season — Davis told everyone to tune in.
Round 2, he promised, would be different. He was right.
That Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense then smashed the mighty Kansas City Chiefs as 3.5-point underdogs.
These New England Patriots, 4.5-point dogs, are giving Davis flashbacks.
“The same,” says Davis. “I feel like we’re going to go out there and play our brand of football. A lot of people are underestimating us because of the schedule. But we made it this far. We’ve been winning games and we’ve been playing better than other teams’ defenses. So I feel like it’s going to be another surprise win. Last time we talked, the favorites were the Chiefs. So yeah, I feel the same.”
Every championship participant since the dawn of time has tried to conjure an us-against-world mentality.
Sometimes, the disrespect is real.
These Patriots — under Mike Vrabel — have heard all about their historically feeble schedule. They know their AFC title win over the Jarrett Stidham-led Denver Broncos has been treated like a kid in Pre-K effectively coloring between the lines.
This team feels sincerely disrespected and vows to do something about it.