Whenever some waggish pigskin pundit or bobblehead wants to make a point about the preseason, they'll remind you the Detroit Lions went 4-0-0 in the preseason of the year they went 0-16-0 when the games actually counted. While this anecdotal evidence is historically accurate, it is clearly just that - anecdotal. And really, pigskin pundits and bobbleheads, you're just saying that to make fun of the Detroit Lions again, aren't you?
Everything that happens in the preseason comes with a caveat, it seems. Your rookie QB was 8-10 for 120 yards and a TD but it was against guys who'll be looking for a job in retail in a few weeks. One week, you're digging out college highlights on YouTube for that wide receiver you never heard of after he catches 3 for 35; the next week that wide receiver returns to "you never heard of him" status when he doesn't even cross the chalk onto the playing field.
One week, you're feeling like your gridiron heroes are looking like playoff contenders, the next week you're wondering if they'll be lucky to escape the internet meme that captured the chattering class questioning which adjective - inept, desultory, befuddled, worrying - best modifies "loss" in the comments section of the local beat writer's blog. Have we forgotten this is all meaningless?
Well, it isn't, of course. Dreams and jobs are on the line for rookies and veterans alike. The future of the team is on the line. Our hopes and fears as fan boys and girls are on the line.
For me, the preseason is the season of rationalizations and dreams by proxy.
The Patriots loss to the Panthers is just a shrug emoji: On the road, the grind of camp that has veterans longing for the regular season, the dawning inevitability of the depth chart and the finality of the numbers game that is NFL rosters for the youngest and the oldest players on the 90-man roster. It writes itself. Besides, Brady looked good and Gronk didn't get hurt. And the team's - I'll go with desultory - performance in Carolina gives Bill Belichick something to be mad about. You may not like David Banner when he gets angry but if you're a good citizen of Patriots Nation, you love Bill Belichick when his eyes turn red and his skin takes on the greenish hue of field turf. Belichick smash!
The dreams have not come as readily as the rationalizations this preseason. Isaiah Wynn's season is over before it started. Sony Michel's knee is in a colander. Devin Lucien looked (to me) like a guy who might deliver what Kenny Britt was supposed to provide until he didn't. And I can't help rooting for a star-crossed guy like Cyrus Jones, who has yet to do anything this year other than not do something bad. Which admittedly is better than two years ago when Jones' hands appeared to be allergic to leather. Remember when Braxton Berrios was going to be the next Wes Welker? When Riley McCarron was going to be the guy who took advantage of Julian Edelman's 4-game suspension? Remember Ralph Webb's preseason debut? When does he have a curtain call?
In Bill We Trust. I'm sure it's the same for fans of the Other 31 but at this point, we're all just talking ourselves into it, aren't we? Easier for some than others, of course.
Here in New England we have Belichick, Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Edelman after September. Giving Josh McDaniels an athletic freak like Cordarrelle Patterson seems like something the NFL's Competition Committee will outlaw after the season. Maybe they don't have a Julio Jones or Antonio Bryant, but Edelman, Patterson, and Chris Hogan will be just fine with Brady making the throws. James White looks like he's ready to have his best season as a pro. Somehow, Dante Scarnecchia will figure out who's playing right tackle. Before you know it, we'll all be back to bitching about Joe Thuney again. Trust me. For Patriots' fans, that qualifies as "dreaming big."
But let's dream bigger.
Brian Flores is the next great Patriots assistant coach/coordinator. Adrian Clayborn is that guy who makes everyone else on the D-Line better. Trey Flowers, Malcom Brown, Danny Shelton are all playing for contracts. Deatrich Wise, Jr. and Derek Rivers, along with Clayborn and Flowers, will provide the pass rush the Pats have been lacking. Maybe Dont'a Hightower is back and maybe he's still healthy come January. Kyle Van Noy will start reminding people of Mike Vrabel. Rookie linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley is the real deal. Belichick and Flores will sort out the pu pu platter of defensive backs beyond stalwarts Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon, and Patrick Chung.
Patriots fans have to dream bigger - dream biggest, in fact. After 18 seasons of unparalleled success, winning the AFC East is not enough. Winning the AFC Championship is not enough. Getting to the Super Bowl is not enough. The syntax for New England fans, in fact, is "just getting to the Super Bowl is not enough."
So, one more week of rationalizing big and dreaming bigger, and probably beyond that. If T.S. Eliot had been a Patriots fan, he might've written "September is the cruelest month" as it seems Belichick and his coaches are still sorting things out in the first month of the regular season. An opening week loss. A Stephen Gostkowski game-winner to eke out a 2-2-0 record. Questions and wishful thinking from national pigskin pundits and bobbleheads about the end of the Patriots dynasty. We've seen that movie before.
I'm up for watching it one more time and I'll be staying all the way through the credits.
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