NFL Notebook: As Red Sox now know, it's hard to repeat - what they should have learned from Belichick

Things could not have gone any better for the 2018 Red Sox. They won a club-record 108 games, were basically in first place wire to wire, and never lost more than three games in a row (only twice).

They knocked the cover off the ball offensively, the starting pitching was great and the bullpen was largely effective. Dave Dombrowski made some key depth moves, and Alex Cora pushed all the right buttons from start to finish. They dominated in the postseason.

This season, of course, has been almost the polar opposite. The Red Sox got off to a terrible start and haven't been able to dig out of that hole. The offense hasn't come close to humming, the starting pitching has been erratic and ... well, we won't even talk about the bullpen.

And here's the kicker: The Red Sox have slumped with almost the same exact team. Before the season, that was just fine with Cora — in fact, it seemed like he preferred it.

"Do we really want to turn the page?" Cora asked in spring training. "It's a book and we wrote a chapter last year and let's write a new chapter this year, but we can always go back … and learn from it."

If Cora had bothered to jump in his car down Interstate 93 to 95 and then to Route 1 to visit Bill Belichick and the Patriots, Cora would have been told he's doing everything wrong.

Belichick made these same mistakes after the team's first title in 2001. They led to what is now the lone blight on Belichick's sterling record as Patriots architect: the team's only season of fewer than 10 victories and failure to make the playoffs with a healthy Tom Brady.

Bill Walsh had the same difficulty after the 49ers won their first title in 1981. A year later, they were under. 500 in a strike-shortened season and missed the playoffs for the only time in his career.

"There was a loss of will," Walsh lamented in The Genius by David Harris, "a loss of need and personal sacrifice."

Of course, they might not be the Patriots we know today without the lessons learned during that 2002 season. Belichick may be the best, certainly in the salary cap era, at a lot of things. This may go down as his greatest accomplishment among professional coaches: his ability to get great teams to climb the championship mountain year after year.

How has Belichick done it? What would he have told Cora not to do, if asked?

Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson, a key cog in the first three championship teams from 2001-04, knows the answer.

"I would look at roster makeup," Johnson said. "You can’t just bring back the same team. After you win it, if you bring back a majority of the same guys, I think you’re going to be in trouble. You need to bring guys in that want a taste of what you just went through and haven’t gotten it yet. It's very important who you bring in after you win a Super Bowl. The Red Sox brought back the same team. Bill would have told them they were making a big mistake."

Like the Red Sox last season, the 2001 Patriots enjoyed a Disney World season — they came out of nowhere and shocked the world. In the offseason, the Patriots brought in no players that were noticeable — TEs Cam Cleeland and Christian Fauria, WR Donald Hayes and DE Rick Lyle. Daniel Graham and Deion Branch were the first two draft picks.

Belichick obviously was not going to make the same mistake again as the club entered the 2003 season. He sent a message to the roster by releasing Lawyer Milloy. Rodney Harrison, a title-hungry Chargers standout, was brought in to replace him.

"That one kind of sent shockwaves around the locker room and the message was: 'Bill’s not messing around,'" Johnson said. "Bill was able to create this culture, this work environment, where everybody was walking on eggshells. In a way, that tension kind of brought the best out of everybody. There was tension created by an act like that — releasing a popular player in the locker room at a time when we all that we thought that is was maybe unfair. It made everyone think about their own football mortality, if you will."

After the 2003 title, Belichick traded for Bengals running back Corey Dillon. Bobby Hamilton, Antowain Smith, Anthony Pleasant, Ted Washington and Damien Woody were all gone.

After the third title in 2004, Belichick didn't/couldn't make any meaningful additions, but he did try to shock the locker room by releasing Ty Law, Roman Phifer and Johnson. The team went 10-6 and lost in the divisional round.

The Patriots would go through a title drought but breakthrough again in 2014 with their fourth world championship. To climb the mountain again, Belichick went back to his shock and awe playbook by trading popular Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins to the Buccaneers near the end of training camp.

Following the 2016 title run — which featured a trade of Pro Bowl linebacker Jamie Collins during the season — Belichick sent a jolt through the roster by signing Bills cornerback Stephon Gilmore instead of giving the money to Malcolm Butler. Martellus Bennett, LeGarrette Blount, Chris Long and Jabaal Sheard were all gone after winning their title.

For this current title defense, Belichick has certainly made sure his roster is competitive come camp. Malcom Brown, Trent Brown, Trey Flowers and Chris Hogan are all gone. Rob Gronkowski's retirement makes the offense completely different this season, as does an influx of new tight ends and receivers, including top pick N'Keal Harry. Belichick has even shaken up some of his deepest positions by bringing back Jamie Collins (linebacker) and drafting CB Joejuan Williams and RB Damien Harris.

And, if Belichick sticks with his playbook, there could be a trademark surprise trade near the end of camp. While players like Jonathan Jones and Elandon Roberts are the most obvious candidates for trades, the players who are candidates to be part of a stunning move are Kyle Van Noy, Dont'a Hightower, Joe Thuney, the McCourty brothers, Duron Harmon and Patrick Chung.

"Why do you draft Damien Harris, you already have a ton of running backs? It will keep that running back room — especially a Sony Michel who might be feeling himself — on edge, creates competition and tension, so you never get comfortable in your role," Johnson said. "You’re always worried about someone taking your job. So you bring in new guys to challenge, even established veterans. Ja'Whaun Bentley will be a hell of a player. Jamie Collins ... that puts those established veterans, Van Noy and Donta’ Hightower, to some degree on notice. You already have a plethora of cornerbacks and they draft Williams. All those guys, Jones and J.C. Jackson, are already on notice. Constant competition. You can’t bring back the same team and expect the same results. Human nature is to take your foot off the pedal.

"He’ll cut Lawyer Milloy, trade Jamie Collins during the season to remind guys that their jobs are never safe to get guys to push themselves. The worst thing you can do after winning a championship is to just say, ‘We're going to roll with the same guys.’ It just doesn’t work that way."

Too bad the Red Sox didn't learn this earlier. Belichick and the Patriots, as usual, already had all the answers.