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.

Pick 'em

Has there ever been a more anticipated sporting event in New England? Maybe even the country? I think not.

Super Bowl XLVI between the Patriots and the Giants reminds me of the great Super Bowl matchups I grew up watching in the '70s between the Steelers and Cowboys. Even if you weren't a fan of either team you watched just to see football played at its most intense, highest (and entertaining) level. Most of the country will be rooting against the Patriots (does that make them the Cowboys now?) getting their fourth title. That's how I felt about the Steelers.

So who will win? I'm leaning towards the Patriots. As is Vegas. But the reality is this game is up for grabs. As even as they get. A toss up. A pick 'em game. These two teams have staged three very entertaining games in the past four years. Each one featuring many lead changes in the second half. There was the finale of the perfect regular season in which Brady and Moss both broke passing records to win a shootout 38-35. A month later there was that other Super Bowl that I have blocked out of my memory. And this past November there was the Giants handing the Pats their first regular season home loss in three seasons. That game featured a last-second comeback led by little Manning that was eerily familiar.

The two teams don't know how to play boring games against each other.

It's being called the rematch, a chance for the Patriots to avenge their epic loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. The NFL Network has seen fit to show that game several times during the past two weeks. Thanks for that. But the two teams are very different and there's not a lot to be learned from watching that film ... except one thing. An offense that looks unstoppable can suddenly become very stoppable in a pressure game against a very good defense. I can still remember the week before that other Super Bowl when then-Giant Plaxico Burress predicted that his team would win 23-17. When Brady was informed of that he laughed. He wasn't surprised Burress predicted New York would win. Of course he would. But he was surprised at one thing. "We're only going to score 17 points?" Brady asked incredulously. He thought it was impossible for the Pats offense to be held completely in check. He learned he was wrong. As did I. We both know better this time around.

A game that you can learn a lot from is the one at Gillette in Week 9. The final score was 24-20 Giants. The score at halftime was 0-0. That's the kind of games these two teams play. Standoffs that morph into shootouts. Brady and the offense struggled -- again -- against the Giants vaunted defensive line. Then Brady, Gronk, Welker, BenJarvus, and Co. got it going and put up 20 points in a little more than a quarter. Brady finished with 342 yards passing and two touchdowns. He completed many key passes with a Giant in his face or chest. But, to quote Brady, there were times he "sucked." He threw two picks and fumbled once. Three turnovers. He got away with that two weeks ago against the Ravens. He can't get away with that again.

The matchups have been broken down, turned inside out, and X-rayed. The two teams are talented, well-coached, and disciplined. You have Brady and little Manning. Great receivers on both sides of the ball. Two not-so-great secondaries. An awesome D line and a very good D line. A very good offensive line and an average offensive line. Solid but not dominant running games. Effective special teams. It's hard to give one team a clear edge in any category. Including coaching. It's that even.

But the majority of the national media is going with the Giants. The main rationale for that is New York is the hotter team, playing the better football. The Giants are playing very good football. No doubt. But hotter? The Pats have won ten straight since their loss to the G-Men in Week 9. I would offer that they have played their best two games of the season in the playoffs. Especially on the defensive side of the ball. They shut down two of the best running attacks in the league in Denver and Baltimore. I would also offer that the Pats played their best all-around game in four years against the Ravens and would have won by 10 or more points if Brady had not made some very big mistakes. But the Pats were lucky that kick went wide left. Just as the Giants were lucky that the Niners muffed two kicks to hand them 10 points.

Both teams are playing well. Both teams have been lucky. Again... even.

My prediction for the game? Patriots 33, Giants 30.

I almost lowered that score by 10 points each after watching the replay of the November game at Gillette because the score was only 10-3 at the end of the third quarter. But I figure that these two offenses have seen these two defenses a lot recently. They know what to expect. They will be able to make some big plays. In a game like that, I like Brady and Belichick. I always will.

I was watching the local news and a report about grade-school kids getting excited for the game. The reporter put the mike in the face of a little boy wearing a Gronk jersey and asked him his prediction for the game. His eyes lit up as he said "Patriots, like by a score of 45-3!" I looked at him and laughed. He's only eight. He doesn't even remember 2008. He doesn't know what it's like to see his team lose in the big game. I hope he doesn't get to find out what that's like any time soon.

Reading Material - Jets' Edition

MT. RYAN: Have another doughnut.

There was a lot of good reading after this holiday weekend of football. Drew Brees broke the record for passing yards in a season. The Lions clinched a playoff spot for the first time in decades. The Giants and Cowboys set themselves up for a winner-take-all NFC East battle next Sunday. God let Tim Tebow lose on Christmas Eve. Lots of great stories.

But none more entertaining than all the stories about the New York Jets after their loss to the Giants. Gotham is all a twitter about their men in green. For good reason. The Jets are plummeting. Their coach Rex Ryan has become Nero. The team that he guaranteed would be playing in their third straight Super Bowl still hasn't made it there yet. And unless the seas part perfectly for them next weekend they won't even be making the playoffs this time around.

The whole Rex Ryan shtick is wearing thin. He can talk a good game. But it's becoming less clear if he can coach a good game.

• Mark Sanchez passed 59 times in a game that was close most of the way. The Foot Doctor is not getting a lot of love for that. 
• Ryan spent the week before the game challenging the Giants. A pretty good football team. A team that one might not want to give extra motivation too. Ryan just can't help himself. 
• The Sanchize -- a.k.a. quarterback Mark Sanchez -- is suddenly not looking like he has a long Pro Bowl career ahead of him in the Meadowlands. I've been a Sanchez fan -- four road playoff wins in his first two seasons will do that -- but his star is definitely starting to dim. Next year will be a key one for him -- and his coach.

Of course it's the coach that all the talk is about. It always is when it comes to Rex Ryan. He is always credited with taking the pressure off his team and putting it all on him. That's media B.S. Pressure is created by poor play. Bad coaching. Throwing games away. Pressure is created on Sunday. Not on Tuesday at a press conference. The media doesn't create pressure -- although Felger sure wants to think it does. The opposing offense or defense creates pressure. All Ryan's act does is put more pressure on his team to live up to his ridiculous predictions and guarantees. And when they don't... trouble. Ryan gets praised for showing confidence in his team. Every coach is confident in his team. Belichick sure is. Talking about it is not as important as coaching it. Ryan talks. Belichick coaches.

The Boston media started this season with predictions of the Jets taking over the AFC East. Many said Gang Green had already surpassed the Pats with last year's playoff upset at Gillette. It was a huge moment for Mt. Ryan. The biggest in his career. Look what he's done since. Not much. Meanwhile, Belichick and the Pats are working on another #1 AFC seed. Some day the Jets will beat up on the Pats again. It's inevitable. It might even happen with Ryan as coach. But I doubt it.

I love the big guy. He's brash. He's entertaining. He's larger than life. He's also a great football guy. But he's not a great football coach. At least not at NFL level. Not yet anyways.

I watched the replay of the Jets-Giants game on Game Rewind on NFL.com. The replay starts with the coin toss. All the Giants captains are out there. But Plaxico Burress (former Giant) is the only Jet captain to come to midfield. A mind-game move by Mt. Ryan. The announcer says "Rex Ryan is unbelievable. He's always got something to get that other team thinking at the beginning of the game." Next shot is Giants coach Tom Coughlin getting ready for the kickoff. He doesn't seem too concerned with how many Jet captains show up for the coin toss.

That's the thing about Ryan. Trash talking all week. Professing your team is the best in the league even in the face of embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss. Trying to psych the other team out at the coin toss. That's not coaching. That's not leadership. That's just grandstanding. And that works just fine when the team is winning. But when things go bad, a grandstander has nothing else to fall back on. You can't go from being boastful and obnoxious to humble and reasonable. It just looks like weakness when you do.

Rex Ryan is looking pretty weak right now.