Frontrunning / Bandwagon Dan 2015

Another pretend 'I Love The Patriots!' column by the Globe's resident weathervane.

Now they take their show on the road. It’ll be different for the Patriots.

Four hundred and fifty miles from the Safe House of Gillette, far from the Hub’s radio signal where daily four-hour shows are devoted to protecting the Patriots and destroying New England’s horde of enemies, the Patriots Sunday will play their first road game since haters punctured the Patriot narrative after the AFC Championship game. They play the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, N.Y., at 1 p.m. Sunday.

We know that folks in western New York will arrive at the stadium singing songs and carrying signs designed to mock the Patriots as cheaters. We know that “all sports inflating pumps’’ are a prominently featured item in the Bills Team Store. We know that the vaunted “Bills Mafia” is ready to take a torch to the Patriots and their legacy. We know that the Bills are better than they’ve been in a while and blowhard coach Rex Ryan is versed in how to attack Tom Brady.

Naturally, expect more of this tone from Shank until it becomes convenient for him to jump off the bandwagon.