Ten Things I Think I Think

Quinn Gray threw three interceptions in the Jags' 41-24 loss to the Saints. Chris Graythen/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:

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 9:

a. Memo to every football announcer and fan: The correct pronunciation of the HBO and NBC analyst is "Collins-worth,'' not "Collings-worth.'' And the right way to say the nickname of the Jacksonville team is "Jag-wars,'' not "Jag-wires.''

b. ESPN's Keyshawn Johnson says the Patriots weren't running up the score against Washington. They were "protecting the lead.'' Wow. Interesting explanation for the starting quarterback and the starting first unit driving for another touchdown with 10 minutes left and a 38-point lead.

c. Excellent replay reversal by Jeff Triplette in the Buffalo-Cincinnati game, allowing a corner-of-the-end-zone touchdown catch by Lee Evans, who just barely scraped his second foot on the green.

d. The Saints scoring 24 points on the Jags in the first 25 minutes is the best sign New Orleans' offense is back to its 2006 form.

e. The Pack and Chiefs got to the two-minute warning of the first half 57 minutes after the start of the game. Now that's a quick ball game. Then it went into quicksand. The last two minutes took 23 minutes.

f. A smart team needing a coach after this year should plan to spend a very long day interviewing and bonding with Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. He's going to be a good head coach for someone in 2008 or 2009.

g. Face it, Jack Del Rio: Quinn Gray, even though he was better in New Orleans, could well cost you the playoffs.

h. If the Broncos aren't in free fall, a team cannot be in free fall.

i. Time to play JaMarcus Russell, Lane. It's next year.

j. There can't be five receivers with better hands in today's NFL than Joe Jurevicius. The catch he plucked off the ground from Derek Anderson just before halftime against Seattle, a sudden turnaround and pick off the turf, should be required viewing for all young receivers.

k. The thing about Sebastian Janikowski's attempt at history? His 64-yard field-goal attempt late in the first half against Houston was hit so well that it hit about 20 feet up the left upright, drilled hard. It would have been good from 72. Honest.

2. I think Andy Reid should stop coaching the Philadelphia Eagles when he and owner Jeff Lurie decide the time is right, not when the media thinks he should.

3. I think there is one running back in football I would trade Adrian Peterson for right now -- and that's LaDainian Tomlinson. Just one. Peterson is single-handedly keeping Minnesota from playing meaningless games the last eight weeks of the season. Not that the Vikings are going to make the playoffs. But you should buy a ticket just to watch Peterson play his explosive, hair-raising style of football.

4. I think this is all you need to know about the state of the NFL today: We are halfway through the season, and Chicago, which has not been ravaged by injuries, looks very much like the fourth-best team in the NFC North. I mean, how do you explain things like this? "And the thing is,'' Favre said over the cell phone last night, "Chicago can come back in the second half. Everybody can see that.''

5. I think, as I said the other day on HBO, the league should not be asking Jerry Jones to host one of the 10 international games the NFL will stage over the next five regular seasons. "After spending $1 billion on a new stadium in Arlington [opening in 2009], to give away one of our home games, I don't think so,'' Jones said the other day. "You're taking a regular-season, competing-for-the-Super Bowl home game away from your home fans. It's not something I favor.''

League senior VP Mark Waller said Jones is the only public dissenter for the league's plan. So it's unlikely the Cowboys would be asked to play a home game in the next five years overseas. But Waller pointed out that if the NFL continued its experiment of two regular-season games a year abroad, that would mean each team would have to give up one game every 16 years. "That's one game out of 128 homes,'' he said. "And we don't think that's too much of a sacrifice for teams to make.''

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