Quote of the Week I

Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson had six catches for 107 yards and two touchdowns in a win over the Browns. Elsa/Getty Images

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:

"Moss has been killing people and we didn't want him to kill us, so we died at the hands of somebody else.''

-- Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel, after the Browns held Randy Moss to three catches and no touchdowns -- and all other Patriot receivers to 19 catches and three touchdowns.

Quote of the Week II

"It's up to me to become better, to become a better person, to learn from it, and to try to be an example and tell young people, 'Don't make bad decisions. If you make a bad decision, it will have long-term effects on you.'"

-- Rodney Harrison, who returned from a four-game suspension for human growth hormone possession to play Sunday against Cleveland.

Quote of the Week III

"Maybe it's time for Eli to stop being Peyton's little brother and to start being the quarterback of the New York Giants.''

-- The late Bill Walsh, in an interview with Tom Callahan, the author of The GM, a book centering on Ernie Accorsi's final year as general manager of the Giants in 2006.

More on The GM, a book I really like, below, in Book Corner.

Quote of the Week IV

"We're five games into the football season. We played five preseason games. Do the math. Anybody who feels good right now is an alien.''

-- Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin, on his beat-up team.

Stat of the Week

Fun facts about the all-time interception co-leader, George Blanda, and the man who just tied Blanda's career record of 277 interceptions:

• Blanda threw 277 interceptions in 4,077 career passes. Favre has 277 interceptions in 8,433 attempts.

• Blanda played in an era where the interception was a way of life in the old AFL. Imagine this: In 1962, he threw one interception per each 9.95 attempts -- 42 picks in 418 throws. In Favre's worst interception year, 2005, he threw one interception each 20.93 throws -- 29 in 607 attempts.

• Blanda played in four decades (1949-75) and over six presidential administrations -- Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford -- and he was only a year from playing after a seventh president, Jimmy Carter, was elected.

• Blanda's career touchdown-to-interception differential was minus-41. Favre is now plus-146.

• Blanda's career completion percentage: .477. Favre's: .612.

MVP Watch

1. Tom Brady, QB, New England. Sixteen touchdowns, two interceptions.

2. Peyton Manning, QB, Indianapolis. Forming a nice bond with Anthony Gonzalez.

3. Brett Favre, QB, Green Bay. We see how slim the margin for victory is when the Pack turns it over four times.

4. Tony Romo, QB, Dallas. Watch out for Aaron Schobel tonight, Tony. Heck of a pursuit defensive end.

5. Randy Moss, WR, New England. First game of marginal impact this year came Sunday.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

On Oct. 1, 2006, at Paul Brown Stadium, New England beat Cincinnati 38-13.

On Oct. 1, 2007, at Paul Brown Stadium, New England beat Cincinnati 34-13.

Weirdly Parallel Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

The leading receiver for the Atlanta Falcons is Roddy White.

The director of event marketing for the Atlanta Falcons is Roddy White.

Not the same person.

Book Corner

The GM: The Inside Story of a Dream Job and the Nightmares That Go With It (Crown), by Tom Callahan.

I have to admit that, because of the in-season time crunch, I'm not going to be able to read the majority of books I feature here. I'll skim them and take snippets that apply to today's game. But I read The GM last week -- it flows seamlessly -- and it's a terrific narrative of the ebb and flow of a football season through the eyes of a general manager, Ernie Accorsi of the Giants. Accorsi, in his final season before retiring, gave Callahan access to everything he saw with the Giants last year, including the raw emotion that flowed from GM to coach. In so doing, Accorsi illustrated the real tension that exists in front offices, the kind you so rarely read about in the mainstream press. So don't think this is just a Giants book. It's not. It's an NFL book, and a book that helps you understand some of the complex relationships that define the game today.

It's clear through the book that Accorsi's perfect head coach is former mentor Joe Paterno, and that Tom Coughlin is out of Paterno's league. The occasional lava-like frustration in Accorsi over Coughlin's coaching errors erupted in anger over clock management and play-calling in the Giants' 38-20 November loss to Chicago, a game he watched, like so many others, from the tunnel in between the locker rooms and the field. The next day, Callahan wrote, "At the moment, Ernie was not in love with his head coach. 'I did a lot of bitching in the tunnel last night,' he said, 'and frankly, when I think about that game, twenty-four hours later, I'm more angry ... What we did last night, it violated everything I ever learned about football. It violated every principle Paterno taught me.' ''

Accorsi was incensed after the Giants' 8-8 season when he learned -- not from Coughlin -- that the coach had fired defensive coordinator Tim Lewis. He told Coughlin it was classless. And Callahan wrote that this exchange followed:

"I just would like a pat on the back now and then,'' the coach said.

"You shouldn't need it,'' said the departing GM.

"We weren't two and fourteen, you know.''

"That makes me wonder if you aren't satisfied with eight and eight.''

Strong inside stuff. Now Accorsi is not totally anti-Coughlin, and they had a good working relationship. But that's the point -- competitive men in a high-stress environment are going to go at it. It's natural, and it's life in the NFL. I'm sure some Giant front-office people must wonder why Accorsi was so painfully honest, but if he hadn't been, the book wouldn't be real.

I am left to ask one more question, on behalf of my NBC mate Tiki Barber: Why is Barber vilified for telling the truth as he sees it about Coughlin, while Accorsi's vitriol on Coughlin -- largely ignored in the press since the book came out last month -- is publicly invisible?

4 of 6