Reading material

I work Saturdays. I have Mondays off. It's ideal during football season. (Not so much in the summer). Between the many, many chores I accomplish each and every Monday, I take a little time to watch the NFL Network's day-long recap of all the Sunday games, catch the replay of ESPN's NFL Primetime, watch the Monday Night preview shows, and surf the tubes to check out what fans and columnists are saying about their teams in other towns. That last part is always entertaining. People say -- and write -- the darnedest things.

So as a public service, I'll link to a few stories every Wednesday for your reading pleasure.

• The Chiefs were supposed to become the Patriots West. Scott Pioli, second only to Belichick in importance in building a dynasty where one never even seemed imaginable, took over Kansas City with the goal of returning the franchise to the top of the NFL. It hasn't worked out so far.
• One of the main themes of the 2011 season has been back-up quarterbacks. From the Colts waking up Kerry Collins from his couch to replace Manning, to Houston losing Schaub and Leinert for the season in back-to-back weeks, the topic of quality back-up quarterbacks -- or the lack thereof -- has come up in town after town. One of the latest is in Chicago.
• Speaking of back-up QBS, Tim Tebow won again. Tebow also failed to complete ten passes -- again. Touchdown Jesus ("I just want to thank my Lord and Savior." Apparently God's not into passing) is the story of the NFL right now. The Broncos are surprisingly in the playoff race. Suddenly I can't wait till the Pats travel to Denver in a few weeks.
• The Jets beat the Bills in the battle for second place in the AFC East. It's yet another game the Jets could have/should have lost. To their credit, the Jets players were quoted after the win acknowledging they aren't playing nearly well enough. But it was the antics of Bills' wide receiver Steve Johnson that was the focus in Buffalo.
• Finally, there's the Philadelphia Eagles. Their nightmare season continued with the 38-20 beating at the hands of the Pats. Eagles fans were chanting for coach Andy Reid's job. If there's one city where losing takes on an extra level of disappointment, it's Philly.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the comment boards at the end of each story. Fan really is short for fanatic.