There are many reasons to be pulling hard for the Patriots tomorrow — provincialism chief among them — but if you’re of a Boston mindset, the most exquisite possibility looming over tomorrow’s horizon won’t be the capturing of a fifth Super Bowl title; it’ll come if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who did all he could to bring the Patriots to their knees, has to hand the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Bob Kraft.

What is it they say about revenge? It’s a dish best served cold.

A Goodell comeuppance has been on ice ever since this $44 million-a-year lackey of the owners took it upon himself to severely punish the New England franchise — fining the team $1 million; stripping it of two draft picks; forcing its quarterback to sit out one-fourth of the season — all because he had a hunch the Patriots were guilty of doctoring game balls, a charge he was never able to prove.

Fortunately, a judge reminded him this is not the way justice is meted out in American courtrooms, where proof matters, no matter how laughable that seems at NFL headquarters.

Tomorrow will be the 10th AFC championship game, fifth in a row, for Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, now in their 16th season of collaboration. If they win, they’ll be off to their seventh Super Bowl.

Is it any wonder the rest of the league gags over their dominance and looked the other way when Goodell tried to sabotage them by any means necessary?

We’ve seen it before in this town.

When Reggie Lewis died, the Celtics pleaded to have his salary withdrawn from their salary cap restrictions, thereby freeing them to pursue a replacement.

Fat chance. The NBA told them, “Tough luck.”

“When I brought it up to the Board of Governors,” former GM Jan Volk recalled, “I couldn’t get anyone to second a motion to even discuss it. Later a major personality on that board came over to me and said, ‘Please don’t take it personally, but there are way too many people here who have felt victimized by Red (Auerbach) over the years.’ ”

That’s what Deflategate was all about, small-minded big shots determined to bring the Patriots back to earth, doing by bush-league fiat what their teams were unable to do on the field.

How shameless. How ?pathetic.

A win tomorrow would bring the Patriots just a game away from the delightful possibility of accepting yet another championship trophy from a spineless commissioner who wished them nothing but bad fortune.

How delicious would that be?