When good football teams play well in the first half, but poorly in the second half, it means that they are getting outcoached. Specifically, the Patriots opposing teams at halftime make adjustments on offensive and defense, and their play-calling in the third & fourth quarter is better than New England’s. Play-calling is a young man’s skill; it’s an artform, requiring creativity, new ideas, imagination and enthusiasm. Belichick has coached hundreds and hundreds of games, and is either burnt out or has passed his prime. The old Championship Patriots would surprise defenses in the red zone, with first down passes to Mike Vrabel or a quarterback bootleg. The same players now look tired and predictable.

The New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox have roughly the same payroll, about $125M, but the Patriots have twice as many players to pay salaries to! The Patriots have about 60 players and the Red Sox just under 30. As a result, the Patriots can afford to pay only five of their best players $5M or more per year, while the Red Sox can play twelve of their better players $5M or more. In football, you can really only retain (pay) about 10% of your best players, but in baseball you can hold unto at least 30% of your core team. That’s why success is harder to maintain in football than it is in baseball. Great teams like the Patriots, that win three Super Bowls, can’t keep a dynasty-and specifically a defense-together. Good players like Assante Samuel get greedy, and leave the team to get paid $9M per year. Then Richard Seymour gets traded for someone younger and cheaper. All of a sudden there’s no rush, no pass defense, Peyton Manning is on the other sideline, the noise is deafening, and it’s 4th & 2!

Okay, okay, okay….let’s look on the bright side of the Patriots loss against the Colts. New England’s defense will be much better, next time. No really. The fans, the media, and this week’s cartoon took 4th & 2 as a defining loss, but actually Belichick is very much in transition on defense. (that sneaky, sly fox)These weren’t prideful veteran’s making a last stand. On the field in Indy were mostly young, hungry and fearless second and third year players, even a few rookies. Forty-something fans and media types were crushed by the 35-34 loss, but Belichick’s twenty-something stud defense is already over it, and chomping at the bit. They will devour the Jets next. A win in New Orleans, lead by the defense-in honor of their beleaguered coach-would right the Good Ship Belichick and set up a dream finish to the season for football fans.

If you could own an index stock titled New England sports teams, now would be a good time to sell. The Patriots excruciating loss to the Colts was the final straw. It is painfully clear. None of the four major Boston sports teams can be considered favorites to win a championship-any time soon. The great ride is over. The Patriots are good but not the best, the Red Sox have their hands tied with old players and big money, the big three for the Celtics are going to break down in the Spring, and the Bruins, well, when’s the last time they won anything…On the heels of a Yankee World Series victory, the psyche of the New England sports fan is in tatters.

The Patriots need better offensive play calling, and Notre Dame needs a better head coach. Can we work out a deal, here? Charlie Weiss & Bill Belichick ca$hed in on their Super Bowl successes, but haven’t actually won anything since Mr. Weiss (and Romeo Crennel) left the team following the 2004 season. Belichick’s forte is defense, and a disciplined business-team approach to playing the game. But offense requires a little more imagination, daring and surprise, something the coach they used to call Dr. Doom lacks. The Pats are pass-predictable. Soon, the pretty good Patriots go up against the very good Colts & then the Saints, but Brady will continue to scowl and scream on the sidelines until the team learns to use the pass more Weiss-ly.

The 2009 Yankees are a special, vintage, winning team. When the opponent puts up runs in the top of the inning, the New Yorkers always seem to come right back in the bottom of the inning with something- don’t get your hopes up. This core resiliency and grit, is the memory muscle of battle hardened veterans Jeter, Rivera, Posada & Petite. It’s their seventh World Series! The Phillies are a stout team, and they have Pedro-it’s gonna be good theatre-but the Yankees are heartbreakers. Expect a few deserved tears from a group of tough old guys, that will not let 2004 be the final note of their HOF careers. If you’re not watching, you’re not a baseball fan.

The Sox have several older players locked into expensive contracts so Wait ’till next year is going to feature many Groundhog Day moments. Ortiz, Lowell, Drew, Wakefield & probably even Varitek will be back, performing (less) good in the regular season, but not great. Certainly nowhere near playoff great. If the team makes a splash this off-season it may be the acquisition of a stud pitcher, hopefully Felix Hernandez, but Papelbon is a price too high. If Boston doesn’t sign Jason Bay, 2010 could be a wash, with the team looking to reload for 2011 when they will likely have a new third basemen, a new right fielder, and a new DH. Ugh. Chin up! The jolly good first place Patriots are in London.

Just like the U.S. Economy, the Red Sox need to spend money to get out of their World Series recession. Spend the money to re-sign Jason Bay. Invest in Papelbon. Ditto Ellsbury. Sign Victor Martinez to a long term deal. The core of players at Fenway is excellent. They are perhaps just a player or two away from returning to juggernaut status, and October Duck Boat rides. For all the criticism that the Yankees get, they got it right by paying Sabbathia, Teixeira & Burnett. Up Broadway, they will probably parade this year.

If the Red Sox lose to the Angels it won’t be the end of the world. Sophisticated sports fans will enjoy watching the favored Yankees have to sweat it out against the Angels, who possess a hex over the Bombers. So instead of an October sleep stupor-that a Red Sox vs Yankees series would induce-we can watch baseball on our terms; turning the tv off say, at 11pm when they are in the top of the fourth inning, waking up refreshed the next day, and able to enjoy other pursuits in life! Like another championship run by the Patriots and the beginning story lines of the Celtics & Bruins…hum de dum.

Do the Red Sox have a fifth gear for the playoffs? They’ll need it to compete with the aura of the Yankees in the Teix-Era. For Boston, much of the 2009 season seemed to be a front-office juggling act of older players w/ declining skills & prolonged slumps; traded for players, injured players, and the whims of good pitching & good hitting. Perhaps it will all amount to the best players being on the field when it counts, but-wince-there seems to be a (Teix) era of inevitability regarding the baseball playoffs and the return to dominance of the pinstripes. “Start spreadin’ the news…”