AUBURN — Friends, families and fans alike all bled blue and red Sunday afternoon at Gippers Sports Grill in Auburn as the northeast’s beloved New England Patriots pulled out a nail-biter to clinch the AFC Championship, sending Tom Brady and his team to the big game for the seventh time.

The only thing better is that Super Bowl XLVI will give the Pats a chance to reclaim their glory against the New York Giants, who bested Brady and the boys in 2008 during the final seconds of Super Bowl XLII. The Giants upset the San Francisco 49ers Sunday night in overtime by a field goal.

At Gippers, fans were enthusiastic, if a bit nervous.

“His quote all week was that he’s reasonably optimistic,” said Michelle Hill of Lewiston, talking about her husband.

“No, I said I was optimistically nervous,” Craig Hill corrected as he watched during the third quarter of Sunday’s match-up between the Pats and the Baltimore Ravens.

Optimistically nervous paid off for the Lewiston fan. Raven’s kicker Billy Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal with 11 seconds left. A successful kick would have sent the game into overtime, but the miss sends the Patriots to the Super Bowl.

The Hills joined friends and neighbors at Gippers to watch Sunday’s game. Gippers General Manager Jay Novella said the sports bar saw a steady flow of customers during the AFC Championship Game. At halftime, waitresses in the busy restaurant were busy taking orders for nachos, chicken fingers and beers.

“It would be awesome to see the Patriots in the Super Bowl again,” Novella said at halftime. “It’s been exciting. This is it.”

Some among the sea of fans at Gippers on Sunday traveled to reach their favorite watering hole for the big game. Larry and Bonnie Levesque came to Auburn from Farmington with friends to watch Sunday’s game.

Like the Hills, the Levesque’s agreed that part of the fun of watching the game is the tradition of gathering with good friends over good food.

And the multiple big screen televisions available at Gippers doesn’t hurt, Scott Albert of Winthrop added with a smile.

“The playoffs and the Super Bowl really help shorten the winter for us, so we want the Patriots to go as far as they can go,” Larry Levesque said. “It’s a loyalty thing. You stick with them through thick and thin.”