September 8

Posted: Monday September 8, 2008 6:39AM; Updated: Monday September 8, 2008 10:28AM

Peter King Peter King >

MONDAY MORNING QB

Warning sign: Injury-filled week proves NFL should not add games

NEW YORK -- So what do you think of a 17-game season now? Anyone for 18?

It can't happen, folks. It shouldn't happen. I'm not so naïve as to think if there's a few more pieces of gold under some TV network rock that the NFL won't find it. All I'm saying is, after watching Tom Brady go down, probably for the year, and with injuries to Donte' Stallworth, Vince Young, Brodie Croyle, Nate Burleson, Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark and ... well, I'm missing another 15 or 20 guys, I have zero interest in the league tempting fate and adding another game or two to the regular season, which it seems inclined to do beginning in 2010 or 2011.

"They're talking about cutting the preseason,'' Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley said Sunday night. "They could cut the preseason and then just play 16 games in the regular season.''

No, I told him. The league is investigating cutting the number of preseason games to two or three, and playing 17 or 18 regular-season games.

"No, no,'' Woodley said. "Too many.''

My opposition is simple: Every week, 15 or 20 solid contributors are lost, some for a couple of weeks, some for the season. Some weeks, like this one, there's a monumental loss. That's my preamble this opening weekend of the season. I continue to be amazed that owners forget every year how pervasive injuries are. But the further the season gets in the rear-view mirror, the easier it is to forget how beat up teams get by December. I maintain the only way to go is to slash the preseason to two exhibition games (one, even), plus two scrimmages, with the bottom 40 or 45 on each roster meeting at neutral sites.

That's for another day, though. I wanted to throw it out there so I could beat you over the head with it again. However, fans need to oppose an increase in regular season games because even though it would to lead to more football on TV you care about, there would be a steep price attached.

***

"I tried to apologize to him,'' Bernard Pollard said over the phone from Foxboro. "But I'm not sure he heard me. He was screaming.''

This was no dirty hit by the Chiefs' safety on Brady's left knee at 1:18 p.m. Sunday afternoon, causing it to hyperextend and, quite probably, doing some serious ligament or cartilage damage, or both. I was told Sunday night that the injury is "serious'' and it "threatens Tom's season.'' I've seen the spate of reports about Brady being out for the year, and though I don't refute them, I cannot corroborate them. I was told things certainly don't look good, but because Brady won't have an MRI until today, nothing is etched in stone.

Pollard told me, as he told reporters in Foxboro, that he was striving to get at Brady when running back Sammy Morris blocked him -- and the combination of the block and his own momentum caused him to lunge into Brady's leg.

"I tried to make a play, and Tom went down,'' he said. "I knew something was wrong. He was in pain, screaming. The running back [Morris] was asking for a personal foul, but it definitely wasn't one, and the ref didn't give it to him. It was most definitely a clean play. It was an accident. It's tough. It's football. I'm sorry it happened, obviously. I can't do anything but apologize to him. I went to Herm [Chiefs coach Herman Edwards] after the play and told him how sorry I was.''

Added Pollard: "I'll pray for [Brady].''

As I said on NBC Sunday night, the big telltale sign for Brady was not coming back out to the field once he got hurt. If the injury was minor, the never-let-'em-see-you-sweat idol would have made his way back to the field. He didn't. Some Patriots thought the play was dirty, including Randy Moss.

I spoke with two recent retirees, John Lynch and Vinny Testaverde, Sunday night about the injury and the play.

Lynch, watching from home in Denver, didn't think it was dirty. Important man to ask; he's spent his career in football blitzing and trying to get at quarterbacks the way Pollard did Sunday. And he got fairly close to Brady on a recent short trial with the Patriots.

"There's no way that was a dirty play,'' Lynch said. "It's easy to look at a play in slow-motion and say, 'Oh, he should have been able to stop.' Totally unrealistic. Things are moving so fast out there. Pollard was going for Tom, and it looked like he was somewhat blocked into him.''

Somewhat blocked into him. Good way to put it, if you saw it. As Lynch says, it's impossible to even imply that Pollard's intent was to crash into the side of Brady's knee.

Testaverde was watching the game from his home in Tampa. And he flashed back to Sept. 12, 1999, the day he had his own nightmare injury in a season-opener. Brady's happened in the middle of the first quarter of the first game, Testaverde's in the middle of the second. That Jets team was coming off a 12-4 season in 1998 and a loss in the AFC Championship Game at Denver; there were very high hopes for '99. This Patriots team was coming off a 16-0 season in 2007 and a loss in the Super Bowl; there were very high hopes for '08.

"I never was able to get back to that point, ever in football,'' said Testaverde. "And for me, it was heartbreaking.''

I spent 45 minutes with Brady one day in training camp, sitting on a golf cart in the Gillette Stadium tunnel. He was expansive, almost philosophical. He talked about how much he loved practice, how much he loved playing with Moss. "If you could pick the traits for the perfect wide receiver, Randy would have every single one of them," he said. "Long, lean muscles. Speed. Quick hands. Tremendous second gear when the ball's in the air. So smart. He wants to practice. He wants to work.''

I remember sitting there thinking, how lucky is Moss to have Brady, and vice versa. Now I wonder if Moss is going to turn into the leader he needs to be to help the Patriots save this season, and whether he'll mesh with Matt Cassel the way he'll need to if Brady is gone for the year.

I asked Brady that day about the Super Bowl loss.

"You control what you can control,'' he said, applying a moist wrap, painstakingly, around his right elbow. "Just because you lose the Super Bowl, it's not the end of your career, or the end of the world. You practice, you prepare, you do everything in your power to come out on top. And then you don't. You move on. Life gets simpler when you get older.''

It won't be as simple if the 45 minutes in the MRI tube today shows what we all fear it will show.

Posted: Monday September 8, 2008 6:39AM; Updated: Monday September 8, 2008 10:28AM

Peter King Peter King >

MONDAY MORNING QB

MMQB (cont.)

Tony Romo needed 13 stitches to close a gash on his chin after getting hit during the Cowboys' 28-10 victory over the Browns.

Tony Romo needed 13 stitches to close a gash on his chin after getting hit during the Cowboys' 28-10 victory over the Browns.

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

The Fine Fifteen

And to think I had my top five as Pats, Cowboys, Colts, Chargers Sunday at noon. This is one crazy league.

1. Dallas (1-0). Jessica's not going to like that chin scar, Tony. That aside, what a nice opening game by the Cowboys.

2. Pittsburgh (1-0). What a crushing performance. The defense terrorized Matt Schaub. Ben Roethlisberger strafed the Houston secondary, and Willie Parker had one of the best days of an ascending career. "We can play better,'' LaMarr Woodley told me after the game. Uh, how, exactly?

3. New York Giants (1-0). On three series last Thursday night, I looked for Justin Tuck on the field at left end, or right tackle in the nickel, and he wasn't there. I turned my binoculars to the Giants sideline, and there he was, taking a blow. Giants 16, Washington 7. Now, remember last year, when the Redskins were handling the Giants twice? (Combine halftime score of the 2007 games: Washington 33, New York 6.) In this game, the Giants practically had it won at halftime, and Tom Coughlin accomplished this while subbing liberally for his horses.

4. Jacksonville (0-1). Tennessee is just a bad match for the Jags. In four quarters, David Garrard threw two interceptions, one fewer than he threw all season a year ago.

5. Philadelphia (1-0). I told Andy Reid Sunday night: "Aren't you glad you listened to all of us smart guys who wrote you had to trade Donovan McNabb?'' He chuckled. Reid's not one to say "I told you so,'' though I know he thinks it.

6. New England (1-0). "The show must go on,'' Randy Moss said. With a man (Matt Cassel) who hasn't started a football game under center (or at any other position, for that matter) since the Clinton Administration.

7. Minnesota (0-0). I'd be more worried about the two no-names at tackle tonight than the inexperienced quarterback if I were a Vikings fan.

8. Chicago (1-0).Kyle Orton and Matt Forte might make no one forget McMahon and Payton, but they're on their way to putting Grossman and Benson in the rear-view mirror. A superb performance by the Bears at the new oil dome in Indy, with a breakthrough job especially by Forte (23 carries for 123 yards).

9. Indianapolis (0-1). I don't get it. I do, however, think that the interior of the Colts offensive line, with its rampant inexperience, didn't allow Joseph Addai (12 rushes, 44 yards, before leaving in the fourth quarter after getting hit in the head) the chance to ever feel comfortable against Chicago.

10. Carolina (1-0). Don't you find it amazing how a game can be won or lost based on whether a backup tight end slightly juggles and brings in a high ball in the back of the end zone on the last of 167 plays on a hot summer day in San Diego? They only play 16. And one was decided because Donte Rosario held onto a Jake Delhomme highball in traffic. I guess that's what makes this sport so compelling.

11. San Diego (0-1). It worries me how Carolina's physicality won out. San Diego's supposed to be a physical, bruising team.

12. Buffalo (1-0). The three best games in the league Sunday were played by Buffalo, Pittsburgh and Chicago. The Bills were crafty (touchdown pass to a defensive end), cat-quick on a slippery turf (that Roscoe Parrish is a threat to take it for a touchdown every time he touches the ball) and mistake-free (no turnovers, one penalty) in routing Seattle.

13. Green Bay (0-0). In Rodgers They Hope.

14. Tennessee (1-0). I know I should like Tennessee more. It's just the more I see of Vince Young, the less I trust him, and you've got to have a quarterback to go very far in this game. Young got knee-gimpy at the end of the game and may miss a week or two.

15. (tie) New Orleans (1-0). Twenty-two touches, 164 yards for Mr. Reggie Bush. Hope springs eternal for the New Orleans Orphans of the Storms.

New York Jets (1-0). "We didn't even have a chance to discuss this before the play was called,'' Eric Mangini told me, regarding the lottery pick of a touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Chansi Stuckey in the first half at Miami. It was fourth-and-13 at the Miami 22, and the Jets had no kicker because, for the moment, Mike Nugent had a bum thigh, and so Favre, under heavy pressure, threw it up deep.

"That's something that only a smart player would know -- throw it down to the end zone, and the opposition catches it, who cares? The worst thing would be to take the sack and give them the ball in good field position. Brett knew just to throw it and take the chance.'' The ball, I said to Mangini, would not have been thrown by a quarterback who cared about his quarterback rating. "Absolutely not,'' he said.

Posted: Monday September 8, 2008 6:39AM; Updated: Monday September 8, 2008 10:28AM

Peter King Peter King >

MONDAY MORNING QB

MMQB (cont.)

Kickers have a little more red tape to cut through if they want to manipulate K-balls.

Kickers have a little more red tape to cut through if they want to manipulate K-balls.

Otto Gruele Jr./Getty Images

What I Learned About Football This Week That I Didn't Know Last Week

NFL Paranoia 101:

The NFL now pays three employees $100 apiece, per game to work on the field in ways that George Halas and Paul Brown could never have imagined.

One NFL temp is called the K-Ball coordinator. K-balls are the footballs used only on kicking and punting plays. There are 12 in use for games at outdoor stadiums, eight for domes, and the balls can be worked on to soften the leather 45 minutes before the game by club ballboys, equipment men or even the kickers and punters themselves.

The K-Ball coordinator job was filled at each stadium beginning in the 2007 season (often by college officials residing in the area of each team) because the league discovered that kickers and punters were coercing sideline ballboys to break in the K-balls before the game, and as the game was going on. The K-ball coordinator holds onto the balls, ensuring that no players or club employee can work on them once the game begins, and he also rotates two balls as the primary K-balls during the game.

The theory is, the more a ball is used, the more supple it gets and the farther it will travel. So unless there is weather damage or one of the balls is lost in the stands, most games are played with only two K-balls being used.

Each NFL game beginning this weekend had two new employees, hired to guard the second defensive helmet used for communication on each bench.

I am not kidding. The NFL is paying $200 per game so a second defensive player cannot be outfitted with a helmet with a speaker in it while the first one is in use on the field.

The NFL passed a rule in April to allow communication between the sideline and one defensive player on the field, the same as offensive coach-to-quarterback communication. Theoretically, this would take away some of the advantage an offense has had for several years, with coaches being able to call plays into a quarterback's ear until the 15-second mark on the play clock.

But because many defensive players don't play every snap, the rule allowed for a second player to have a speaker in his helmet, but only if the first defensive player wasn't in the game. So the second player needs to have two helmets: one that he'll wear when he's not getting the play called into him, and one with a speaker in the helmet. To prevent a team from having both players with the speaker in the helmet in the game on the same play, the NFL decided to put a man in an official's hat and white official's pants on each sideline to guard the backup defensive-communicator's helmet.

Thoroughly confused? Or thoroughly disgusted?

There are 267 games in the NFL this year -- 256 regular-season games and 11 more in the playoffs. Thus, the NFL will spend $80,100 for those three employees to do their sacred duties at each game.

Quote of the Week I

"A couple of times, I just winged it and said, 'Hey guys, same play.' OK, ready, break, whatever.''

-- Brett Favre, on improvising during his first non-Green Bay start of his 277-game starting streak, a 20-14 Jets win at Miami.

Quote of the Week II

"I don't think I was slowed down much by the knee.''

-- San Diego linebacker Shawne Merriman, who has been advised to have surgery to repair two slightly torn knee ligaments but played Sunday with a knee brace in the Chargers' loss to Carolina.

Quote of the Week III

"There's no explanation I can give to justify what I did and I'm not going to try to waste their time trying to. I can stand up and say, 'I've made a mistake.' I'll be the first one to own up to it.''

-- Carolina receiver Steve Smith, on the Athletes United for Youth Web site, explaining his suspension by the team for two games -- including Sunday's opening victory at San Diego -- for coldcocking teammate Ken Lucas in training camp.

Posted: Monday September 8, 2008 6:39AM; Updated: Monday September 8, 2008 10:28AM

Peter King Peter King >

MONDAY MORNING QB

MMQB (cont.)

Atlanta's offensive line paved the way for Michael Turner's record-setting, 220-yard, two-touchdown debut as a Falcon.

Atlanta's offensive line paved the way for Michael Turner's record-setting, 220-yard, two-touchdown debut as a Falcon.

Todd Kirkland/Icon SMI

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Super Bowl rings have gotten as big as Rhode Island. I found that out the other day on my weekly Wednesday morning shift at Sirius Radio in New York, when Mark Bavaro was a guest. He took out the 1990 Super Bowl ring, the second that he won with the Giants, and it was dwarfed by the Super Bowl ring owned by my co-host, Giants play-by-play man Bob Papa, who just got his this summer.

Papa held his ring next to Bavaro's, which was quite literally half the size.

"I used to not wear it,'' said Bavaro. "I thought it was too gaudy. Now look. It's like a high school ring.''

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

Sometimes I forget the things that annoy me on the road, and Saturday, at an NBC rehearsal for the 2008 TV season, Bob Costas reminded me of one.

At hotels now -- and this has been happening for four or five years -- when you order room service, the male or female waiter who comes to the door always asks: "May I come in?''

Which prompted Costas, coming off a month in a hotel in Beijing, to say: "May I come in?! No! I'll eat the meal in the hallway! What do you mean, 'May I come in?' ''

Good point, Bobby.

Stat of the Week

The most underappreciated but most outstanding position group of Week 1 in the NFL was the Atlanta Falcons offensive line. Left to right: SamBaker, Justin Blalock, Todd McClure, Harvey Dahl and Tyson Clabo. Remember draft day, when GM Thomas Dimitroff got roasted by his peers for trading up to the 21st overall pick for left tackle Baker? No one's laughing now.

The line paved the way for 318 rushing yards.

The line allowed one sack and one pressure of Matt Ryan.

The line cleared the way for an average of 8.3 yards per play.

Good Guy of the Week

John Lynch. The Patriots agonized nine days ago because they had some young talent at safety, then cut Lynch, possibly ending the longtime safety's pro football career. This weekend he found out that after 15 years, the game actually does go on without him.

Saturday night he called DirecTV to make sure his home in Denver was wired for NFL Sunday Ticket. Sunday morning he went to church with his family. Then he settled in to watch the games, with his four kids running in and out of the house as kids are wont to do on a nice, late-summer Sunday. "If the Jets or Patriots call one of these days,'' wife Linda asked him Sunday, "what's your answer?'' Lynch said he didn't know. "If I'm done, I'm done. I'm at peace with it,'' he said.

Two reasons for Lynch getting the inaugural Good Guy award here. One: He's one of the best people I've ever covered, a mentoring type in the game and out. It's never about him. It's always about the team. His foundation has awarded 53 scholarship to youth leaders over the years. And he didn't want to subject his family to an itinerant life this year -- unless he knew he'd play a role for the Patriots, a team he's always wanted to play for. "I didn't think it was fair to them to have me living in a Residence Inn for six months, and it's not something I wanted to do either,'' he said.

Two: He's committed to keep the memory of Darrent Williams -- slain on New Year's Day 2007, a murder still unsolved -- alive. He and two teammates from Denver, Champ Bailey and Domonique Foxworth (since traded to Atlanta), will host a wine-tasting and dinner Sept. 15 to raise money for the Darrent Williams Memorial Teen Center, a haven for highly at-risk Denver kids.

"We feel so strongly about keeping his dream to help kids alive,'' Lynch said. "Darrent was only here two years, but he brought such life into the team and into the community.''

The Way We Were

The first in a year-long (or longer) series comparing players of today with those of long ago, or not so long ago. In this section, I'll compare players who, for reasons on and off the field, could have switched places in time and been similar.

Brett Favre vs. Sammy Baugh

First, each man can talk all day. Or could, in their prime. Fifteen years ago or so, I had occasion to call Baugh a few times for stories, and it was hard to get him off the phone. This summer, I once hung up with Favre after a particularly lengthy interrogation about his future in football, looked down, and the phone read 1:20.31. Eighty minutes. Not painful, either. Enlightening.

Can you just imagine Favre as a two-way player had he played in the forties? Or three-way, which Baugh was? In 1943, Baugh, a Redskin, led the NFL in quarterbacking (1,754 yards, 23 touchdown passes), interceptions (12) and punting average (45.3 yards per punt). Slingin' Sammy, they called him, a daring thrower who didn't get caught up in the interceptions; he liked to take chances on the field.

If Favre gets marked down for anything, it's his risk-taking, his penchant for just winging it upfield on some low-percentage gambit. Sixty years ago, Baugh had back-to-back 2,500-yard passing seasons, the first time in history that had happened. Favre's no 4,000-passing-yard trailblazer, but he throws downfield like Baugh and has much of the same success on the bombs.

One other commonality: They're Southern men who lived to work the land. Baugh, now retired, ran cattle on a 25,000-acre ranch in west Texas. He'd be out all day long, tending to his land, his fences and his animals. Favre, recently un-retired, lives on a 465-acre ranch in southern Mississippi. He loved being out all day tending to his trees, grass and aggressive beavers.

Favre has reminded me of Baugh the player and person for a long time. When Favre retires for good, they'll be together for good ... somewhere on the list of the top 50 football players of alltime.

Posted: Monday September 8, 2008 6:39AM; Updated: Monday September 8, 2008 10:28AM

Peter King Peter King >

MONDAY MORNING QB

MMQB (cont.)

Jake Delhomme threw for 247 yards and a TD in leading the Panthers to a last-second win over the Chargers in San Diego.

Jake Delhomme threw for 247 yards and a TD in leading the Panthers to a last-second win over the Chargers in San Diego.

AP

The Awards Section

Offensive Players of the Week

Jake Delhomme, QB, Carolina. He didn't have a Donovan McNabb kind of day, but Donovan McNabb doesn't have the zipper up the throwing elbow that Delhomme has either, courtesy of the major elbow surgery Delhomme had 11 months ago. This was the first regular-season game he'd played since going under the knife.

Carolina gave up a 19-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter by allowing two Philip Rivers touchdown passes in the span of five minutes. Then Delhomme, with the crowd in San Diego roaring, drove the Panthers 68 yards in 11 plays, capping it by pump faking and then throwing a pass to the back of the end zone that only tight end Dante Rosario could catch. The Panthers won without Steve Smith, and they have Delhomme's grit to thank for that.

Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta. This has to be quite a performance to outshine a 220-yard rushing day by fellow new Falcon Michael Turner. Ryan was only 9 of 13, for 161 yards, one touchdown and no picks. But to do it in his first NFL game, with his fellow rookie roommate Sam Baker starting at left tackle, is an amazing accomplishment. His first NFL pass was a 62-yard strike for a touchdown to Michael Jenkins. "I feel comfortable,'' Ryan said via cell phone last night. "I feel like we all know what we're doing, and the way we ran the ball was so crucial. We were knocking people off the ball all day.''

Plaxico Burress, WR, New York Giants. His 10-catch, 133-yard night in the Giants' season-opener with Washington gives him 23 receptions for 311 yards in his last three games -- the NFC title game, the Super Bowl (with the winning touchdown catch) and the first game of this NFL season. Can you think of the best receivers in football now without the visage of Burress entering your mind? I can't.

I was thinking what a different player Burress has morphed into since I first met him at the scouting combine in 2000. He was a beanpole then, and when he went to the Steelers in the draft, he caught guff from players for not working hard enough and not being tough enough. Now he's a broad-shouldered, dive-for-the-ball, block-downfield wideout, and without the injuries that plagued him last year, he might be primed for the best year of his career. "It feels good to finally have two good feet under me,'' he said. "When I go out there on the field, I think I'm the best. I want to dominate.'' This year, he just might.

Defensive Player of the Week

LaMarr Woodley, OLB, Pittsburgh.Told you so. Before halftime, this rising star strongside linebacker batted down a pass, sacked Matt Schaub, and intercepted a pass headed for tight end Owen Daniels. Woodley and fellow linebacker James Harrison (three sacks) keyed a 38-17 win over Houston that wasn't that close.

"I need to show I can play in space,'' Woodley said afterward. "That's the big test for me. I've been playing the run my whole football career, and I'm confident in my pass-rush ability. But I've got to prove that I can cover receivers and tight ends, because that's what a Pittsburgh linebacker does.''

If one game is any indication, Woodley's going to do more than fine.

Special Teams Player of the Week

Roscoe Parrish, PR, Buffalo. Said coach Dick Jauron: "When he touches the ball, there is a buzz in the stadium. They expect him to make a big play every time.'' His 120 punt-return yards in the rout of Seattle was a club record, and his weaving, Usain Bolt-like 63-yard return for a touchdown in the second quarter was the third of his brief NFL career.

Coach of the Week

Buffalo coach Dick Jauron. How can a coach have a team more ready to play than Jauron, particularly against a consistent division winner like Seattle? The Bills held the Seahawks to three of 16 third-down conversions, a measly 3.8 yards per play, and recorded five sacks with only one penalty and no turnovers. Pretty impressive, playing in midseason form in the first game of the season -- and on a wet field.

Posted: Monday September 8, 2008 6:39AM; Updated: Monday September 8, 2008 10:28AM

Peter King Peter King >

MONDAY MORNING QB

MMQB (cont.)

Brandon Jacobs steamrolling LaRon Landry was one of the lasting images of Week 1.

Brandon Jacobs steamrolling LaRon Landry was one of the lasting images of Week 1.

Al Bello/Getty Images

Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 1:

a. Here's how you know Jason Taylor was not fit Thursday night: The first time he touched a Giant with the ball was on the 30th play of the game, 22 minutes in, when he tackled Brandon Jacobs.

b. I'll just say this: If Jason Taylor was anywhere near healthy, he's going to have a bad season. Maybe very bad. I watched him through the binoculars on 30 or so snaps Thursday night. No burst whatsoever.

c. Another Example of King Idiocy Dept.: I picked Washington to be an NFC Wild Card. Rally time, Men of Zorn.

d. For the record, Ocho Cinco is not "Eighty-Five'' in Spanish. It's "eight five.''

e. There is no preventive conclusion to be drawn from the shooting of Richard Collier. None. Young men with a few bucks in their pocket, 26-year-old men, who have a day off the next day, are not certainly in the wrong for being out at 2:45 a.m. What do you think 26-year-old kids do on Friday and Saturday nights around this country? They stay out. To equate the lateness of the hour with a shooting is nonsense.

f. Best thing the officiating department did in the offseason: Officiating czar Mike Pereira made it a point of emphasis with his officials to head off taunting and extreme trash-talking EARLY in game, and last Thursday night, you saw Ed Hochuli go into both huddles to settle down the yapping ... and it worked. Why? Because Hochuli told the Giants and 'Skins the next guy over-woofing would get a 15-yard flag.

g. Before the draft, the Dolphins dealt a fourth-round pick to beef up the bottom of their roster, acquiring tight end Anthony Fasano and linebacker Akin Ayodele. Nice Sundays for them: eight catches, one touchdown, four tackles, one fumble recovery, in total. You can't argue with the way Bill Parcells churns his roster.

2. I think it's folly that Daunte Culpepper retired. Detroit, Chicago, Kansas City, Baltimore, Green Bay, and St. Louis should have pursued him. What were they afraid of? Either as a strong backup or a possible two- or three-year solution, what's the problem with Culpepper playing for your team? And if I were New England, I'd have him come in this week and duel with Chris Simms.

3. I think, by the way, I checked with Vinny Testaverde, just to be sure, Sunday night. The Patriots hadn't called. He's comfy in semi-retirement, living with his family in Tampa.

4. I think, if I were a betting man, I'd bet Mike Holmgren would work on the East Coast before he retires. And as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, this is no retirement tour for Holmgren. He'll be back, whatever happens this year with the Seahawks.

5. I think these are my college football thoughts of the week:

a. Akron by two touchdowns AT Syracuse? Akron. Wow. Talk about a new low for the Orange.

b. Where to start re: Notre Dame? To struggle mightily to beat San Diego State, a loser to Cal Poly the previous week ... Charlie Weis better have more than a few four-leaf clovers in his pocket this year.

c. Horrible, horrible "excessive celebration'' call by the ref in the Washington-BYU game, which led to a 15-yard penalty, which led to a missed extra point, which led to a BYU win. A sin. An absolute sin. The Washington quarterback taunted no one, embarrassed no one, by tossing the ball in the air and jumping into the arms of an offensive lineman. That was a shameful display of abuse of officiating.

d. Watching the Ohio State-Ohio U. (my alma mater, by the way) game Saturday during our NBC rehearsal, I got Jerome Bettis into the affair between the Bucks and mighty Bobcats. Bettis was taken with the OU backup quarterback who had to come into the game because of a shoulder injury to the starter. The backup was Franshaw "Boo'' Jackson. Yes, Franshaw. Who had a massive, World B. Free-type Afro spilling out of the back of his helmet, obliterating his nameplate, looking like he had a mink over his shoulder pads. "Franshaw!'' Bettis bellowed while watching Jackson rally OU in the second quarter. "This is your big moment, Franshaw!'' Well, we battled. Had 'em 14-12 entering the fourth quarter, then gift-wrapped it for 'em.

e. Pete Carroll had to be chuckling watching Franshaw drive the ball on the Buckeyes, and watching OU stuff the OSU offense through most of the game. That big USC-Ohio State game should be over Saturday at halftime at the Coliseum.

6. I think I'm starting to think Carson Palmer belongs in Jay Cutlerville. He hasn't been a commanding presence on the field for some time, I'd say going back to mid-2006, and I'm hard-pressed to think of him in the same league with the top five or six quarterbacks. I did put him there in my top 50 in the SI NFL Preview issue, but after watching him Sunday, I almost wish I could have that one back.

7. I think the Scott Linehan Watch will begin any week now. He's 7-21 in his last 28 games with the Rams.

8. I think this is what I liked about Week 1:

a. Clinton Portis is one heck of a blocker.

b. Does London Fletcher make every tackle?

c. What a win for John Fox.

d. Ditto Jeff Fisher. And Andy Reid.

e. Kareem McKenzie had a really good night blocking for the Giants Thursday.

f. DeSean Jackson, you have served fair warning on the NFC East. If you can hold up, you should have a Devin Hester impact on the division.

g. We're not supposed to say such things in this business, but I really feel for Tom Brady.

9. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 1:

a. Ridiculous Call And Execution of the Weekend: With a nine-point lead and 7:27 to go Thursday night -- and Brandon Jacobs running over the Redskins -- the Giants, in the midst of a clock-eating drive, called a first-down pass downfield to Plaxico Burress; mistake number one, because Jacobs should have continued to wear down Washington. Mistake number two: Eli Manning threw into clear double-coverage and nearly had it intercepted. What happened to common-sense, churning-it-out playcalling?

b. Speaking of bad play-calling, Zorn took the cake Thursday night. Sheesh. No no-huddle or hurry up in the last six minutes AT ALL, down two scores? It's like he was in a hurry to see the McCain speech.

c. I can't believe they're the same old Lions.

d. Somebody lasso Joey Porter. Why the same old nonsense before the game? I'll tell you what'd cure that yelling and screaming before kickoff: a nice 15-yard penalty.

e. I know Bruce DeHaven, the Seattle special-teams coach, pretty well. I can tell you after Buffalo defensive end Ryan Denney split out and caught a touchdown pass from punter Brian Moorman on a fake field goal attempt, that DeHaven will not sleep for three days.

f. Is Miami sure Ted Ginn is better than Devone Bess? I'm not.

10. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. When Peter Gammons says the AL MVP is Dustin Pedroia, that gets my attention.

b. It look possible now -- likely, even -- that the Red Sox and Yankees will play their first meaningless games in a few centuries when they meet at Fenway for the last three games of the season.

c. I think the Rays are too good to be hearing footsteps.

d. Coffeenerdness: Do not rebel against Pike Place Blend, all ye who want a lighter coffee in the morning at Starbucks. Bold is good. Strong is good. I've heard the folks in my Montclair, N.J., store want the milder stuff back. No! No!

e. I've got some opinions, strong ones, about the political events in this country in the last 10 days, but I think it best I let them germinate a bit longer. You don't read this space to read my political views anyway.

f. One political thought, though, and it's one I think every day: Why is political discourse in this country so sarcastic, so biting, so rude, so disrespectful, so deceitful? No wonder the two sides hate each other so much when they get to Washington and find it hard to agree on the color of pen ink.

g. I haven't seen a movie in a long time.

h. Welcome home, Laura. Hope you enjoyed the Far East. Good luck with the knee surgery this week. I'll be thinking about you.

Who I Like Tonight, and I Mean Tony Kornheiser

We've got the dual Monday-night situation again, the recent custom of the first Monday of the NFL season. I bet Brett Favre will be watching game one.

Minnesota 27, Green Bay 20. The Vikes might have the best runner (Adrian Peterson), pass-rushing defensive end (Jared Allen, until Julius Peppers proves 2007 was a fluke), 4-3 defensive tackle (Kevin Williams) and corner (Antoine Winfield, who I like more than everyone else does) in football this year. Can any other team claim to be this star-heavy? Not Dallas. Not New England. Not Indy. And tonight, not even the bum foot of Bernard Berrian, brought in to be a deep threat for Tarvaris Jackson, scares me off. I just might have picked Minnesota even if Favre were quarterbacking Green Bay tonight.

Denver 24, Oakland 17. Mike Lombardi, of SI.com and the new Web site National Football Post, worked for the Raiders until 2007 and then the Broncos last season. He wrote on National Football Post this week that this was the report he filed to Mike Shanahan after observing Javon Walker last year in a subpar, injury-affected season:

"He sees himself as a star and a player that has natural talent and does not appear to be willing to make the necessary sacrifices in his game to blend into the team concept and the fill an important role in the offense. He has much to overcome this off-season and I'm not sure he has the mental capacity to handle the off the field issues and play the game for the love of the game. He is not the player that his current salary for '07 commands, and it is going to be difficult to get him to understand that his career is at a crossroads.''

This is the man the Raiders guaranteed $16 million (in a $55 million deal) in the offseason. Walker will be motivated to produce for Al Davis, and he'll have some nice moments. But dominate is what the Raiders need him to do, and he's not mentally or physically ready to do that.

Find this article at:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/peter_king/09/07/week1/index.html

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