Halloran: Patriots fans must cling to their faith

This is not a time for a Patriots fan to be rational. Currently, there are no benefits to objective analysis. After three preseason games, all you have to cling to are faith, hope and love.

Because, by any reasonable measure of which we generally judge a football team, the Patriots are bad right now. If there were no memories of last year, if the names on the jerseys were covered up, and all you saw was an offense getting stopped, a defense getting stuffed and special teams getting stumped, you’d say, “That’s a bad team.”

But that team is the Patriots. That team went 16-0 last year and came within a couple of minutes of being the greatest team in the history of the planet. So, we tell ourselves, that team is pacing itself. That team isn’t playing all of its starters. That team isn’t scheming. And that team is missing its star quarterback.

The problem with that line of thinking is it disregards the fact that other teams are also pacing themselves, resting starters and using a very small portion of their playbooks. And as a veteran team, and a supremely talented team, the Patriots should be way ahead of their competition at this point in the preseason. Instead, they’re lagging woefully behind.

Someone will remind you the Giants were 1-3 in the preseason last year, even losing to the Patriots, and then went on to win the Super Bowl. The year before, the Colts won the Super Bowl after a 1-3 preseason. Clearly, the “pre” in preseason does not stand for “prediction.” It is not a precursor. It is merely an opportunity for teams to prepare. Do the Patriots look prepared to you? If you didn’t have faith in Bill Belichick and hope that Tom Brady will be healthy for the start of the season, and if you didn’t love this team as much as you do, you’d be forced to believe what your lying eyes are telling you. You’d be wondering right now if the Patriots’ defense didn’t get young enough soon enough. You’d have your doubts about Laurence Maroney. Thoughts about the offensive line being unable to protect Brady would be keeping you up at night.

But, you tell yourself, it’s only the preseason. So, while it’s discouraging to see the Patriots’ first-string defense get pushed backwards, and it’s disheartening to see the special teams give up two touchdowns against Philadelphia, the 0-3 record not only means nothing, it tells us nothing. Although, isn’t it nice to be a fan guided by faith, hope and love? Because if the Patriots were 3-0 and playing great, you’d be brimming with confidence and saying, “Look how great they’re playing.” But since they’re 0-3, you say, “It’s only the preseason.”
And you know what? You’re right.

Bob Halloran is a sports anchor and reporter. He’s also the author of “Irish Thunder: The Hard Life and Times of Micky Ward,” published by The Lyons Press.