Check out Peter King's original Monday Morning Quarterback, a day spent in football heaven.

I'm getting to respect really good front sevens more and more. And, more and more, I'm getting to respect quarterbacks who don't get cowed by intense pressure from front sevens.

Case in point: Sunday in Buffalo. The Bills blitz the New England offense 42 times, including virtually every one of the Patriots' 30 pass plays. Forty-two times in 56 plays! Tom Brady is not sacked on 30 pass drops. He throws no interceptions. He goes 17-for-30 for 298 yards and two touchdowns. But think of that. Thirty pass drops, against five- and six-man blitzes. With 72,698 fans screaming like nut jobs in Orchard Park, one of the loudest crowds the Patriots have ever heard.

And no errors of any consequence.

Playing like this is the biggest reason why the Patriots are poised to set the all-time record for consecutive wins Sunday against Miami. Tom Brady is simply an unflappable player, one of the greatest pressure players I've ever seen.

Now to the other side of the ball. There were five defensive scores in Sunday's games, and each helped the winning team break open a game that was within seven points or closer. In the New England-Buffalo game, this was the situation: Patriots up 24-17, Bills driving to tie it, fourth-and-3, Patriots' 17, 2:29 left in the game. New England blitzes Tedy Bruschi up the middle, and Drew Bledsoe tries to react, but Bruschi is too fast for him. His jarring sack knocks the ball loose, and defensive end Richard Seymour runs 68 yards with the ball for a touchdown. In the span of 10 seconds, the game went from 24-17 and very nearly 24-24 to 31-17.

I was in Charlotte Sunday. Atlanta led 13-10 with 12 minutes left. Carolina ball, third-and-10 from its 30. Atlanta blitzes a linebacker and a corner through the guard-tackle hole and boom! Jake Delhomme air-mails one right to cornerback Kevin Mathis. Touchdown. Ballgame.

I don't know about you, but my view of the NFL in the first month of the season is that defense is winning an awful lot of games. I don't see Mike Vick winning games right now, but I see Patrick Kerney, Rod Coleman and Brady Smith winning them.

THREE QUESTIONS WITH ...

Minnesota coach Mike Tice, who comes out of the Vikes' bye week needing a win in Houston to stay atop the NFC North:

MMQBTE: How'd you like the Gibbs-Parcells game last Monday?

Tice: "First Monday night game I've watched in a long time. Loved it. But wasn't that amazing when they shook hands after the game and Joe turned his head like that? That shocked me. But it just goes to show you how much that game hurt him. He reacted like that because he's only got 16 shots. Baseball's got 162, basketball 82 or whatever, hockey, 80 or so. If you've only got 16, and you lose a game like that, you hurt. I know Joe, and that had to tear his insides out.''

MMQBTE: Your thoughts on the massive number of injuries around the league?

Tice: "We've looked at it very hard. We're looking at the shoes. We're actually trying to get the Metrodome stadium commission to do a study on the new turf right now. We're seeing lots of calf and ankle injuries. But it's like I tell the players: This ain't golf. This year, the eight-man practice squad is saving me.''

MMQBTE: With all the injuries you've had, how do you avoid your team getting a woe-is-me attitude?

Tice: "I'm absolutely not using any injury stuff as an excuse. And I won't. My attitude is they're all NFL players, and when one guy gets hurt, I go to the next guy and say, 'Let's go big boy. You're the next guy.'"

FROM THE E-MAIL BAG

Lots of nerves were struck in the last couple of columns, starting with the debacle that is Monday Night Football on the East Coast.

PLEASE, OH PLEASE. DON'T MAKE US STAY UP TILL 12:40 A.M. TO WATCH THE SILLY MONDAY NIGHT GAMES. From Frank DeAngelo of Exeter, Pa.: "Do you think we will see two Monday night games (one starting at 8) anytime soon? It's a shame that a large segment of the viewing public can't keep their weary eyes focused past halftime. It just doesn't seem to be effective marketing for a league that does so much else right.''

Preaching to the choir, Frank. Great, great point. At least start the one game at 8:30 instead of running feature after feature so the game starts at 9:12ish.

	MAILBAG Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

CAN WE HAVE ED DONATELL BACK? From Benjamin of Green Bay: "I agree with you completely that the firing of Ed Donatell was a huge mistake for the Green Bay Packers. The situation sounds similar to what Jon Gruden is going through in Tampa. Players will not buy into a philosophy if they can't trust their leader. What can Mike Sherman do to fix what he has destroyed in Green Bay?''

It was a mistake to feed Donatell to the wolves, obviously, after the fourth-and-26 debacle last season in Philly. But let's not go overboard. The Packers have lost three in a row. Sherman hasn't destroyed a thing. What does concern me, however, is a very average running game burning the Packers for 7.0 a carry Sunday.

PARDON ME WHILE I BURN A UNIFORM. From Jeremy Runk of Harrod, Ohio: "Are you crazy? The Bengals uniforms are awesome!''

I am not crazy, Jeremy. I am sane. And those uniforms need to be burned in a dumpster behind Paul Brown Stadium tonight.

READ SPORTS ILLUSTRATED THIS WEEK, DEWAYNE. From Dewayne Rudd of Louisville: "What's your take on all the injuries we see in professional football these days? Is this just part of a violent game, or are we moving into too-dangerous-for-entertainment waters?''

I don't mean to be a party-pooper, Dewayne. But go to your mailbox this week and read my story in SI about injuries. I think there's a chance that it's a coincidence that after three weeks there were 146 players on IR this year, versus a league-wide average of 105 over the previous six seasons. There is also a chance that players are getting so big now, while also getting faster, that the human body just cannot take the collisions. But there are other reasons that could raise some questions around the league too. Happy reading.

I FOUND THE ABNORMAL NORMAL GUY! From Phil Huckelberry of Normal, Ill.: "Well, Peter, since you asked ... I'm the Green Party candidate for State Representative here in Normal. That's about as against the grain as you can get, seeing as how no Democrat has been elected to a countywide position in this county in a few decades. And I've got to say it works. People here have a sharp independent streak and don't like other people telling them how they're supposed to behave. I even get away -- mostly -- with being a Packers fan in Central Illinois. Check out www.votephil.org if you want to see what it's like to go against the grain in Normal.

TWO (FOR TUESDAY) THINGS I THINK I THINK

1. I think I'm going to have to rethink my Week 1 review that Deion Sanders, at $1.5 million a year, was a good signing for the Ravens. When you're 37, and you suffer a so-called "tweak'' of the hamstring, which happened to Sanders 16 days ago, you don't come back as quickly as you used to. If it's just a tweak. John Madden said he wasn't running much more than half-speed at practice when he saw Sanders Saturday. That makes me wonder if Prime Tweak will be playing in the Deion Sanders Alumni Game at Dan Snyder Stadium Sunday night.

2. I think I'd like to ask Mark Brunell and Trent Green -- and their teams -- this question: Are you nuts for burning four timeouts in the last two Monday night games?!! Come on! A timeout is worth more than five yards late in the first half, and far more late in the second half. Take the delay penalty, for God's sake.

And a bonus ...

3. I think Onterrio Smith will get suspended today for violating the league's substance-abuse program.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space every week.