MMQB Review: All Hail The Titans Edition

This morning when I clicked on the link to MMQB I noticed in Peter King's CNNSI.com biography it said the following words:

Senior writer Peter King is one of America's premier pro football writers and his Monday Morning Quarterback column on SI.com, which began in 1997, has become a must-read for fans, league insiders and anyone who loves the NFL. On some weeks the column generates more than 1,000 e-mails.

I have acquired a new fascination with how short Peter's Tuesday mail bag is, and I am wondering why it is that way? Some weeks the column generates more than 1,000 e-mails? Maybe I have a skewed perspective of the sportswriting world but that doesn't sound like a lot of emails for a 5-6 page column every week from a premier sportswriter on a major sports website. Even though Peter doesn't seem to get a lot of email, I still don't get why the mailbag is only one page and only has 3-4 email questions in it per week. I would think he could get more mail out of the MMQB than just a couple. "Some weeks" generating 1,000 emails (I refuse to hyphenate the word "email") just doesn't seem like a lot to me.

Regardless of his mailbag, let's see what declarations and inside knowledge on the NFL Peter can provide for us this week. More importantly, will he keep the streak of "mentioning Brett Favre in every column" alive? It's not even a real question because we know the answer.

There's much to dissect this morning. Concussions, Canton, Jim Caldwell, Colts, Bill Cowher, and later in the alphabet, Vince Young's drive, Dennis Dixon's mistake, Rex Ryan's challenge, San Diego's streak, the MVP storm and the latest Game of the Year tonight in New Orleans.

Oh goodie. It sounds like another MMQB I am going to be completely not interested in reading. Maybe that is why Peter doesn't get much mail, his topics aren't exactly normally that riveting and diverse.

And the Miraculous Bra, of course.

It's always sad to see a man have to start wearing a bra. Save yourself some dignity Peter and just go to the gym 4-5 times a week if you have time.

My starting point is the parking lot outside LP Field in Nashville.

Whenever Peter starts a story like this I normally automatically assume it is a story about how he lost his car in the parking lot after the game and couldn't find it so he is going to bitch about it for a while. Fortunately, there is no way that is the case because Peter would NEVER actually go to a game in Tennessee, so there is no way he was in the parking lot to even lose his car.

"I've got the ball in my hands,'' said Britt, speaking of the ball he caught to beat Arizona Sunday at the final gun in Nashville, speaking from the parking lot outside the stadium. "I don't want to let it go.''

Peter isn't exactly in the parking lot outside LP Field in Nashville right now. Kenny Britt is in the parking lot, but Peter is still in a studio in New York or in his living room at this point talking to Kenny Britt on the phone. Sometimes Peter likes to infer that he is actually where the person he is interviewing is located but that's simply not true. When I talk to someone on the phone in Atlanta during the morning, it doesn't mean I am starting the day in Atlanta. Yes, I am being nitpicky with Peter today.

Oddest thing about the catch you've all seen 10 times by now: "I never knew I got hit for a half-hour or so after it happened,'' Britt told me.

I liked Kenny Britt at Rutgers and thought he was a good receiver, so I know he could be a good receiver in the NFL and he is not dumb...and I don't play NFL football, but I don't understand how Britt didn't know he got hit in the end zone. That seems like something Kenny Britt should know. I want to call him stupid or oblivious for this.

'How'd that get there?' '' then he reconstructed the play, and people told him he got the crap beat out of him in the end zone. Cool stuff.

Cool stuff? Peter has an entire section on concussions after this and I can't help but wonder if maybe if Britt can't remember or for some reason his brain had forgotten from the impact when he got hit? Maybe I am crazy...I probably am. I just think it is interesting Peter talks about concussions directly below this story about the Titans and Kenny Britt can't remember getting hit on the play that won the game.

There's something about the Titans that speaks to exactly why the NFL is so popular.

Because contrary to what Peter seems to believe they are an actual NFL team with a fan base who likes the team?

"I saw Vince scramble. Sometimes in practice he throws it sidearm, so you know you have to be ready for anything.

Sometimes Vince Young also throws like he is flinging shit off his hand...but at least he is flinging the shit to the right team so that definitely counts for something.

Seems like we're making head-trauma news almost by the week now. A top league source insisted to me Sunday that the Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner benchings Sunday due to mild head-trauma residual effects are not the beginning of a sea change with how individual teams deal with brain injuries. But it sure seemed that way.

By the way, both teams lost games by close margins. Would having Warner or Roethlisberger in those games have made the difference? Quite possibly. I am not saying both these guys should have played in the game, but I don't believe the NFL is going to undergo a huge realization and start to deal with the injuries differently. If a team believes the quarterback of their team can play and win the game, and the quarterback doesn't pull himself from the game, then he will probably be in the game. Warner probably would have played if he hadn't told the Cardinals coaching staff that he woke up and wasn't comfortable.

Don't think both Pittsburgh and Arizona aren't fully aware they lost close games in a playoff chase without their starting quarterbacks. It just so happened two guys sat out one week because of concussion-related symptoms. I see it as more of a coincidence than a rising tide proving the NFL finally "gets it" on how concussions affect players.

Now, Jay Glazer reported on FOX Sunday, comes word that commissioner Roger Goodell is on the verge of toughening up the restrictions about dinged players returning to games.

I can confirm Glazer's report -- in the next week or so, the league will have a policy in place that if a player has any symptoms of memory loss or amnesia, or any foggy incident that shows a player clearly has lost his bearings for even a few moments, he won't be able to return to the game that day.

I can confirm Peter and Jay Glazer's report that the NFL is going to toughen up on restrictions and if a player seems to have lost consciousness of his surroundings he will not be able to return to the game.

See? I can be just like Peter King. Take another reporter's story and then add different words to it to make it seem like I know a lot and have learned something about the story myself. I can be an NFL insider just like Peter.

Also, if the NFL does tighten restrictions on when players can return to the game, then that will mean teams are going to hide whether a player has any symptoms during the game so that he can still be available to return to the game. I don't know if anyone believes me or not, but it's going to happen. There is going to be a rash of injuries where players are on the sidelines where no one really knows what is happening because the NFL teams don't want to affect their player's availability for the rest of the game.

Now the big question is whether players will self-report and be honest about headaches and things that may be signs of brain trauma --

No they won't.

So far, the new Caldwell is much like the old Tony Dungy. He's plain-spoken. Players thought he might be a little more fiery, but they've found him to be as thoughtful as Dungy and maybe slightly louder. But not much. When he spoke at halftime in Houston, his team down 20-7, all he talked about was an old football bromide: "We have to take back both lines of scrimmage.'' No screaming. Just a statement of fact. The Colts proceeded to reel off the next 28 points.

I hate to be a bummer in this Jim Caldwell love-fest we are all having right now, but it really, really, really, really helps that his quarterback is Peyton Manning.

It always helps to have Peyton Manning on your side.

Yes it does. Considering Manning is like an offensive head coach that means Caldwell only really has to worry about the defense of the Colts during a game normally.

But what the Colts have done is put a system in place, from the front office on down, that ensures a smooth passage from one year to the next.

That system is called "Let's continue to keep Peyton Manning as our starting quarterback."

That's the reason the Colts will prosper for as long as Manning is playing.

"As long as Manning is playing?" So basically there is no system in the front office that ensures smooth passage from one year to the next, there is just a system that has Peyton Manning as the quarterback. Once he retires, the system goes all to shit. Peter is trying to mislead his readers into believing the Colts have this great system in the front office set up from year-to-year, but really the entire system would fall apart if Peyton Manning didn't play for the Colts at the quarterback position. He is pretty much the guy that makes the system work very well for the Colts. This doesn't sound like much of a system in the front office.

That's one reason owner Jim Irsay signed Bill Polian's son Chris to be the long-term general manager the other day while Bill was still in place as franchise architect. Irsay didn't want the younger Polian to leave the Colts without a logical successor when Bill Polian steps away from the team in two or three or four years. "We'll continue to build the team with the same kind of philosophy and core values,'' Chris Polian told me.

Those core values? Peyton Manning is a good quarterback.

The philosophy? Keep Peyton Manning healthy.

The Colts have done a good job of finding competent defensive players who are cheap, whether it be in the draft or in free agency, but it is easy to talk about "the system" and the "core values" of a team when they have one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. Manning makes every player on the offense better and wins games because he works so hard with his receivers to get on the same page. It's not so easy to win games when Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie are being thrown the ball by an average quarterback. Of course the Colts could probably afford better receivers if they only had to pay for an average quarterback, but that is beside the point.

The Colts won't be known as the team of the decade because of their middling playoff success. Eight times since 2000 they've made the playoffs; five times they've lost their first game.

But Peyton Manning didn't even get to touch the ball in overtime last year!!! But.....that's not fair to count this against him....

The 2010 Hall of Fame Class will disappoint a lot of people.

Freaking great. You know, no one HAS to elect new guys into the Hall of Fame if they don't deserve it right?

Of the offensive players next up, I'd say Russ Grimm has the best shot, in part because the celebrated Washington offensive line doesn't have a player in.

Well that's a perfectly good reason to vote a player into the Hall of Fame. Because "the celebrated Washington offensive line doesn't have a player in." Who cares if Grimm is not one of the best players in the history of the NFL, that doesn't matter, we need to make sure the Washington Redskins have one of their offensive linemen in the Hall of Fame regardless of whether any of them deserve it or not.

Who "celebrated" the Washington offensive line? The media and the Redskins fans. So Russ Grimm should essentially be voted into the Hall of Fame because the media and fans of the team really liked the offensive line for the Redskins that he played on and the team was successful. If he deserves it, that's fine, but Grimm shouldn't be elected to the Hall of Fame for just the shitty reason that someone from the popular Redskins offensive line should be in there.

Wolf traded for an overweight party boy, Brett Favre,

There's the Brett Favre mention of the week...but it won't be the last.

But as for offensive coordinator possibilities for Weis, I'd list five teams:

This list is just pure speculation by Peter and it makes absolutely no sense. You will see.

1. New England, obviously. Bill Belichick hasn't given the offensive coordinator's title to Bill O'Brien this year, even though O'Brien has done a good play-calling job lately. Weis was vital to Tom Brady in his formative years, but Brady's all grown up now, so it's reasonable to wonder if Belichick would view Brady as needing Weis after five seasons without him.

I doubt it and Peter explained why.

2. Carolina. Weis and John Fox are close friends and current Panthers offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson worked under Weis in New England.

No, the problem in Carolina isn't Jeff Davidson, the problem is a shitty, shitty quarterback and Davidson has to call simple high school plays because Delhomme is too shitty to actually run the offense effectively. Now if Weis can play quarterback...

3. Kansas City. The Chiefs don't have a coordinator in the wake of the midseason departure of Chan Gailey. GM Scott Pioli and Weis worked together with the Jets and Pats. Not sure if Todd Haley and Weis, both strong personalities, would be oil and water.

I actually laughed at this. Weis and Haley are two men with huge egos. This would probably not work unless the goal was to have a fight to the death between these two men.

4. Indianapolis. Surprised? I don't see it happening, but it's intriguing.

I like how Peter lists 5 teams who Weis could become the offensive coordinator for and then Peter immediately dismisses the idea of one of the teams, but he wanted to mention it because he thought it would be really neat.

What's the point of conveying information if you aren't going to convey relevant information? If Peter is making a list of teams Charlie Weis could be hired as the offensive coordinator, it should be a real list, not a dreamy-fantasy list that Peter wants to see. What story has Peter King broken in the past 3 years? Does anyone at NBC or CNNSI.com really know how worthless this man is? He is friends with the players, that's pretty much his only asset.

He is beyond best friends with Brett Favre and STILL got scooped on Favre announcing his unretirement from retirement. Seriously, how does Peter King miss that story? Earlier in this column he just basically restated a scoop on concussions that Jay Glazer got and then tried to pass it off like he was adding additional information. I am sure Peter is a nice guy, but shouldn't he have knowledge to give to his readers about the going-ons in the NFL, since that is the sport he covers?

5. Chicago. If Lovie Smith returns in Chicago, he may have to sacrifice offensive coordinator Ron Turner to shake up a bad team. Weis would be a candidate.

Maybe, but Chicago is probably too near Notre Dame and there are Notre Dame fans who are Bears fans. I am not saying the Bears should do whatever the fans want them to do, I am saying the Bears would have to at least think about this.

The weird first year (a trial run, really) of the four-team United Football League ended Friday with Jim Fassel's Las Vegas Locos besting Jim Haslett's Florida Tuskers for the first league title. Cool twist: The game ended in overtime, with the OT rule I love in force. Each team gets at least one possession, and once the second team gets the ball either on a turnover or on a regular possession, the game is in sudden death.

I call this the "pointless overtime" because the teams have already been playing like this for an entire game, why should one more possession in overtime make a difference? Especially when after one possession the game reverts to the shitty overtime rules everyone hates. This doesn't make any sense to me, so naturally Peter King loves it.

2. Indianapolis (11-0). We're watching an amazing season. I don't know how it'll end, but when you win five games in a row that you've trailed in the fourth quarter, you're having one of the most compelling seasons a team's had in years.

The Colts have won 5 games in a row when they have trailed in the fourth quarter. Peter can call it compelling but I call it pretty lucky.

Quote of the Week II

"Not even close.''
-- Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme after his second four-interception game of the year cost the Panthers in a 17-6 loss to the Jets, on whether he's ever had a season this frustrating.

Everybody feel bad for him starting right now. Poor guy. No one gives a shit about the defense of the team playing well yesterday (or most of the year) or the fact with an average quarterback Carolina is in the middle of the playoff hunt, we have to forget this because little Jake is frustrated with his performance. All he has to do is be average and he can't even do that.

Offensive Players of the Week

Kenny Britt, WR, and Vince Young, QB, Tennessee.

And I love the fact that Britt could have been the goat of the game after fumbling at the end of a 51-yard reception from Young on the previous drive in the fourth quarter. With 4:55 left in the game, he lost the ball, and it appeared the Titans had lost the game. But here came Young on a 99-yard drive, and here came Britt with the biggest catch of his life.

So Kenny Britt gets to be offensive player of the week with Vince Young because Britt almost blew the game with a crucial fumble? But because Vince Young saved his ass with a long drive and Britt finally did his job and caught the ball, he is rewarded for this? This is not a good reason to make Britt co-offensive player of the week.

MVP Watch

1. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis. It's now very close between Manning and Favre, but it's still Manning, to me, because of all the new pieces the Colts had to put in place on offense this year, and because Indy's 11-0.

I still don't know exactly why or how Brett Favre is as valuable to the Vikings as Peyton Manning is to the Colts. Favre is having a great year, but if you put an average quarterback on that team, they still make the playoffs (like last year) and that's not the case if you took Manning off the Colts.

2. Brett Favre, QB, Minnesota. Last season after Thanksgiving, playing with a sore arm, Favre went 1-4 with two touchdowns and nine picks. In one game -- Sunday's rout of the Bears --Favre equaled his 2008 post-Turkey wins and exceeded his touchdown throws. Clearly, Favre enters December in far better shape this year than last, which means he might make a good run for his fourth MVP.

Clearly he is in better shape because he skipped training camp and all. I am serious and trying to be unbiased when I say there is no way Brett Favre should win MVP.

3. Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans. It's going to be hard, but not impossible, for Brees to propel himself past Manning and Favre because the Saints' running game is such a prominent part of their offensive success.

What about Adrian Peterson for the Vikings? How much of a part of their success is he? I would say he a bigger part of the Vikings success than the three headed monster down in New Orleans. This is retarded analysis. Peter King downgrades Brees in the MVP race because the running game is so prominent for the Saints, but upgrades Favre in the MVP race even though he has a better running game (and running back) than Brees. Just stupid.

4. Tom Brady, QB, New England.

Whatever it is, Brady could have fewer TD throws -- and wins -- than Manning, Favre and Brees, which would leave him trailing in the MVP race.

Wins? So it is Tom Brady's fault he can't control how well the special teams and defense plays for the Patriots?

Stat of the Week

Or as I often call it in my head "The New England Patriots Stat of the Week." I called the "Stat of the Week" this moniker in my head last year when Peter King broke down the Matt Cassel situation what felt like every single week and when he broke down how Cassel was doing compared to Brady in 2007.

Back in the spring, Belichick called Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Brady on the carpet for their comments -- Moss' and Welker's, really -- that the New England offense should be more explosive than in its 589-point 2007 season. Sounded far-fetched at the time, and even through the first month or so of this season. But the Patriots have averaged 37.2 points per game in their last five outings; the 2007 teams averaged 36.8.

You probably know what I want to say here. Just say it Peter. I know I harp on this but when given the chance Peter King will break down a New England Patriots situation with statistics in a heartbeat. It's ok for them to be his favorite team, I just don't like his indignant reply when he gets accused of it.

Quite a nice midseason refresher trip to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It's hard to imagine a prettier American city -- when it's not raining, of course. But a Friday noonish walk around Green Lake, just north of the city, was a 3.2-mile slice of heaven, with about a dozen different pines and other trees with late-turning leaves ringing a pristine lake. There's something very different about cities like Seattle, Portland, Spokane and Salt Lake City, from my experience in the last 10 or 15 years. They're less electronic. People read. People walk. People talk. People are outside a lot more, doing things that require less human-tethering to the almighty Blackberry.

People are so simple out West. I bet Peter wonders when there is going to be an NFL team in Seattle. I am kidding of course, he knows there is a team in Seattle because his daughter works for the Seahawks. There would only be a conflict of interest if Peter actually covered teams on the West Coast.

3. I think the demotion of Kerry Rhodes has mostly to do with work ethic and commitment, and some to do with Ryan wanting him to be more physical. "I got the message. The message was sent,'' Rhodes said after picking off two passes against Carolina. What I liked about the move was Ryan was blunt about it and sent a message to his team as well as to Rhodes. The message was: When we're losing, I'm going to shake things up-- and I'll have no sacred cows.''

It also helped the Jets played the white JaMarcus Russell. I think even I could pick off a few Jake Delhomme passes if given the opportunity.

b. So Aaron Rodgers is being left in the dust this fall by Brett Favre. What quarterback isn't? Rodgers (348 yards, though against Detroit) is still a commanding presence for the Packers.

That statement is about the only compliment that Peter King will give Aaron Rodgers. The more Peter says positive things about Rodgers the more it may seem like the Packers didn't make a mistake in keeping him over Favre...and Peter can't have that happen.

Rodgers: 22 TD, 5 INT, 3136 yards passing, 104.9 rating.
Favre: 24 TD, 3 INT, 2874 yards passing, 112.1 rating.

I just felt like pointing that out.

8. I think I'm doing the same thing if I'm Mike Shanahan: waiting for the end of the year and surveying the field. Because I want to see what the Bears do. I want to see what a lot of teams do -- Dallas, Washington, Carolina. Why jump at the first team with an opening? How much would Shanahan kick himself if he commits to the Bills and then in a month his old friend Jay Cutler is coachless and it could have been Shanahan's gig?

Take it from me (because I am an expert and all), Carolina doesn't need a new head coach, they need a freaking competent quarterback. Of course I also thought George Seifert would get one more year in 2001. I know I am in the minority on this, but I don't think Dallas needs a new head coach necessarily. Maybe they need new coordinators but Phillips isn't that bad is he?

a. Rest in peace, Mike Penner. I didn't know you, but everyone who did said you were a gem.

Peter should go to the funeral or perhaps not make comments to people he never even knew. First, off Mike Penner seems to have passed away, so there is no way he can read this, and second off, his family doesn't know Peter and Peter doesn't know them. A private phone call would be better and a hell of a lot more thoughtful.

f. Can you please speak, Tiger? Say something. Anything.

It's his private life, if he doesn't want to say anything just to make the media feel better then he doesn't have to. I am not saying it is smart, but really he doesn't have to comment if he doesn't want to. Anything Tiger Woods says will either be lies or covering up some truth anyway, so it's not like we would learn anything really exciting for a few more weeks.

h. How great would a Boise-TCU national championship be?

About as great as a Florida-Cincinnati, Texas-Florida, or Boise State-Alabama national championship might be. They are all undefeated. Cue the calls for a playoff system and the bashing of the BCS...

Though I've written about it a few times, and others have done so before and after that, you're making a big mistake if you view the 10-0 Saints as a team that has to throw for 350 yards to win. New Orleans ran on 38 percent of its offensive snaps last year. This year, it's 49 percent rushing.

This is kind of a misleading statistic that sportswriters are just loving printing this year...showing how much the Saints run the ball this year compared to last year. The reason the Saints are running the ball more this year is because they have the lead in the fourth quarter and they don't have to throw the ball to try and come back. It's not that Saints are a better running team, because they were good last year as well (Top 5 in the NFL if I am not wrong), they just have the lead and don't have to throw to try and catch up to teams who have a lead.

How can sportswriters not understand this idea? It's pretty obvious teams run the ball in the fourth quarter with a lead, which is something the Saints have had this year. It just seems too simple for Peter to not realize this.