New England Patriots' loss to Chiefs a microcosm of a lost season

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- In the hotel adjacent to Gillette Stadium, thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia is put up for sale and auction on the morning before a game. On Sunday, the tables were set up early, as the sun was just rising, because the New England Patriots were playing the Kansas City Chiefs, somewhat incredibly, at 1 p.m.

The game had been flexed from Monday night and that bit of scheduling reflected a reality about the Patriots that was illustrated most starkly in the assortment of keepsakes available for purchase in the lobby: The era of star players and must-see games is well in the past for the Patriots. Amid the signed photos and jerseys of greats like Brady, Bledsoe, Gronkowski, Bruschi, Edelman, Law, Malloy, White and Butler was one small photo of Bailey Zappe and a signed jersey of Matthew Judon. For the truly flush and melancholy, there were framed pictures of Brady and Bill Belichick and the six enormous Super Bowl rings they won together

As those Super Bowl memories have receded, and the losses this season mounted -- on Sunday, the old dynasty lost to the nascent one, 27-17 -- they have been replaced by an uncomfortable and pointed question: What now? With three games remaining in the season and the Patriots already eliminated from the playoffs, Belichick's future -- and the future of nearly every facet of the football operation -- is now the topic that consumes New England and the NFL the way playoff seeding used to.

The only correct answer to the question is the one that is so difficult for so many to admit. Nobody knows for sure what is going to happen and if Belichick will return. The circle of people who might know is limited to owner Robert Kraft, his son Jonathan, Belichick and their closest