Reading material

The NFL really is the best drama on television. I love "Game of Thrones" but it can't match the NFL for week-after-week drama. The first two episodes of the 2012 NFL season have been outstanding television. The triumphant (somewhat) return of King Manning. The adventures of the ragtag army of replacement officials. The collapse of the House of Brees. The romance of Lord Gruden and young Prince Luck. Who will sit on the throne at the end? Will it be the House of Belichick? All those in the lands of the north hope so.

There were lots of story lines from Week 2 that made for great reading on the Internets. Here are a few of the best...

• It didn't take long for Jay Cutler and the new looks Bears to resemble Jay Cutler and the old look Bears. Chicago looked like a contender with a Week 1 41-21 drubbing of the Colts. But against a real football team -- division rival Green Bay -- they just looked bad. The best part -- for non Bears fans -- was eternal brat Cutler getting in his lineman's face for missing a couple of blocks. Problem was Cutler was busy throwing four awful interceptions to kill his team's chances. Classic Cutler.
• The Saints continue to pay the price of Bountygate. A much higher price than the 10k they put on Brett Favre's head. With head coach Sean Payton suspended and the team on its second interim coach, the Saints have given up 922 yards and 75 points in two games. But the Saints have never been a defensive beast. It's the offense that has brought them to the top of the NFL recently. That offense is out of sync despite putting up 32 and 27 points in the first two games. Most of those points came in late-game comeback desperation mode. Not a recipe for success for Drew Brees.
• The patience with the NFL and its use of replacement refs is wearing thin. Ray Lewis and just about every coach in the league has expressed frustration with the league risking the safety of the players and the integrity of the game. The league's response to some really bad officiating in Week 2 was "officiating is never perfect." Funny. I don't remember the NFL ever saying that when the regular officials came under fire for a bad call. As Ray Lewis says, at least with the regular officials you knew what you were going to get. Not any more.
• The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the 2-0 teams in the league. But what an ugly 2-0 it is. Mad Dog Mike Vick and his team had to stage a last-minute comeback to beat the very bad Cleveland Browns 17-16. But the game was in Cleveland and any road win in the NFL is a good road win. Sunday the Eagles faced a much tougher test at home in the form of the Baltimore Ravens and once again the Eagles snatched victory from defeat at the last second. Vick has made a season-full of mistakes in just two weeks but the team is unbeaten. Sometimes that's all that matters.
• The New York Football Jets -- along with the rest of the AFC East -- sit at 1-1 after getting soundly beaten by the Steelers. Skinny Rex and his team were feeling pretty good after beating up on the Bills in their opener but they are feeling a little less cocky -- if that's possible -- after their offense sputtered all over Heinz field. How long till the "Teee-bow! Teee-bow!" chants begin? The Jets offense, Wildcat or not, is not expected to be among the best in the league. The defense is. Against Pittsburgh it wasn't.
• The Giants-Bucs game was a wild one right up to the very last play. Little Manning -- again -- led the G-Men to a comeback victory. This time scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter as Eli threw for a ridiculous 510 yards. (Too bad Brady doesn't get Tampa this year.) But it was the traditional kneel-down play that got all the attention. Manning went to take a knee with a few seconds left and the game over, but Bucs rookie coach Greg Schiano told his defensive guys to keep playing hard and go after Manning and try to get the ball. Go after him they did, charging through the offensive line and knocking the guys in blue jerseys all over the place. After the game -- in what is becoming a new, fun tradition in the league (see Harbaugh/Schwartz 2011) -- Giants coach Tom Coughlin got in Schiano's face for breaking the kneel-down code.  There are loud opinions on both sides of this one. I have to agree with Coughlin. The kneel-down is an accepted part of the game. You lost. Go get a beer.
• Finally, there is the Wes Welker saga. Why isn't he playing as much? Is he hurt? Is Belichick mad at him for wanting a big contract? Is Brady mad at him for "dropping" the pass in the Super Bowl? Is Gisele behind it all? What is going on? It's a good question. My guess is Welker is a little banged up. He himself said missing some of preseason has him a little behind. And clearly Gronk and Hernandez are now the focus of the offense ... at least it was till Hernandez got hurt. The Globe's Greg Bedard has a good piece on it. He says there's no doubt that Welker was being phased out of the offense. Of course he didn't ask Belichick about that. None of the reporters did. He says why bother because Belichick wouldn't have answered. That's one way to excuse not doing your job. He also says maybe the Pats are trying to reduce Welker's numbers either as punishment for not accepting the offer the team made in the offseason or are hoping if he gets less catches he won't get a big contract offer as a free agent next year. Then Bedard says how low that would be for the team to do that and says "So let's not even go there." Problem is, he just went there. And it's ridiculous. The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy takes a break from doing what he does best -- ripping the Sox when they suck -- to chime in on the game he knows not all that well. He says if the Pats lose next week at Baltimore -- certainly a possibility -- they will be below .500. Well, he's good at math.

That's just one week. I can't wait for episode three.

Reading material

It's the final installment of reading material. If only all the stories I've read since last Sunday were about a historic fourth Pats' Super Bowl title, and the team winning it for Myra, and a parade -- instead of another last-second defeat. If only.

Despite the subject matter, there were several good columns. Some advised that I stop looking back at the car wreck. Others advised that I start looking ahead. Both good advice.

• ESPNBoston's Jackie MacMullan (still sounds weird) wrote a great piece asking for a big "calm down." I sometimes forget just how great a writer MacMullan is. 
• The Herald's Ron Borges (that still sounds fitting) is someone I make myself read every now and then. It's like taking medicine. Sometimes you have to fill that little cup and drink that vile red liquid no matter how much you don't want to. Borges is a great writer, as knowledgeable about football as any sportswriter .. it's just that his take on the Pats is so often slanted to the "I told you they wouldn't win again" angle that it's just not worth it. But it's worth reading a post-mortem from the Borges's persective.
• The Globe's Greg Bedard has the same view of the fateful Brady-to-Welker pass that I do. It was way more a bad pass than it was a missed catch.
• But that's enough about THAT game... On ESPN.com, Mel "The Hair" Kiper has updated his mock draft for the second of what will be 183 times. His 2.0 version has the Pats using both their first-round picks (I'll believe it when I see it) and taking outside linebacker Vinny Curry from Marshall and D lineman Kendell Reyes from UConn. I love the Curry pick. He is a versatile athlete who can get after the quarterback from anywhere on the field. With that second pick I'm hoping cornerback Janoris Jenkins slips down to them. If not him, then maybe safety Harrison Smith from Notre Dame. Secondary help is primary.
• On NFL.com, there are several mock drafts up already. Charlie Casserly -- who Belichick hates -- takes two shots at the GM for always trading out of the first round while projecting that the Pats might take Alabama safety Mark Barron and Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower (great name). Two Tide players courtesy of Nick Saban? Sounds good to me. Two of the other "experts" have the Pats taking LSU defensive tackle Michael Brockers. He's 6-6, 300 pounds. He would look good next to Big Vince.

The draft begins with first-round picks on April 26, a Thursday night. The Patriots -- at the moment -- hold the 27th and 31st selections. The rich get richer. I may not be a card-carrying member of the one percent, but I enjoy rooting for a football team that is.