MMQB (cont.)

Quote of the Week I

The Saints offense bowled over the Raiders defense in a 45-7 thrashing Saturday.

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"There's no 'Jay' in team.''
-- Sign at Invesco Field Sunday night, prior to Jay Cutler's return for a preseason game between Chicago and Denver.

Quote of the Week II

"I don't know that they'd be completing this many passes against air in practice. This is an embarrassment for the Raider defense.''
-- Tom Flores, the former Raiders coach now doing color for Oakland preseason telecasts, on the Saints' passing game shredding the porous Raiders defense at the end of the New Orleans' third scoring drive in a 45-7 beatdown of the Raiders.

Quote of the Week III

"I talked to Bill Belichick. He said whatever is the best decision for you. It's not like it's going to hurt you to go back. The same teams that want you now are going to want you later. He was talking both sides of the fence with me. Just from knowing him, he was able to talk to me like a friend, and because he's so close with coach [Urban] Meyer.''
-- Florida quarterback Tim Tebow, asked who he turned to for advice when he was making his decision whether to come back for his senior year at Florida, to Pete Thamel of the New York Times.

Stat of the Week I

Regular Season Team of the Decade Dept: New England and Indianapolis are in a fight to the finish for the crown of the best regular-season team of the first decade of the century. From 2000 through 2008, here are the teams with the top winning percentages:

1. New England 102-42 .703
2. Indianapolis 101-43 .701
3. Pittsburgh 94-49-1 .656
4. Philadelphia 92-51-1 .642
5. Denver 85-59 .590

Two notes: The Colts play host to Jacksonville to open the season Sept. 13, and if they win, they'd be tied for the decade lead in wins for at least 30 hours; New England doesn't play until the next night ... Green Bay (84-60), Tennessee (83-61) and Baltimore (83-61) are knocking on the door of this top-five list.

Stat of the Week II

We take for granted that the 1983 first round was the best round of quarterback-drafting in NFL history. But when you draft a quarterback in the first round, you do it with the hope the passer you pick will lead your team to the promised land. Don Banks wrote a great piece Friday that I strongly recommend. His point, and the point of this chart: The 2004 first-round quarterbacks have been far more championship-successful the Class of '83 -- and the four quarterbacks from that 2004 draft are still in their 20s, polishing their games. The '83 first round versus '04 in total years played by first-round quarterbacks and Super Bowls won:

Round 1, 1983
Player	Yrs.	SB Wins
John Elway	16	2
Jim Kelly	11	0
Tony Eason	7	0
Todd Blackledge	5	0
Ken O'Brien	9	0
Dan Marino	17	0
Totals	65	2

Round 1, 2004
Player	Yrs.	SB Wins
Philip Rivers	5	0
Eli Manning	5	1
Ben Roethlisberger	5	2
J.P. Losman	5	0
Totals	20	3

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

Roy Williams, the Dallas wide receiver, wears No. 11 for two reasons:

1. He thinks it makes him look slim.
2. It's an easy number to write when giving an autograph.

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

You Know You Live In Boston Sign of the Times Dept: Across from each other in Terminal A at Logan International Airport are a Dunkin Donuts and a Starbucks. Last Monday at 5:55 a.m., 17 people were in line at Dunkin Donuts and two at Starbucks.

Tweets of the Week

"Just got a call back from Tom Brady, says he's fine and there's nothing to worry about ... I'm the insider now.''
--@OGOchoCinco, Chad Ochocinco of the Bengals, just after midnight Friday.

***

"Attention: 1st rd. Pick Andre Smith has signed, the new source = Ocho Cinco, not ESPN, thank you, stay tuned for more info.''
--@OGOchoCinco, again, late Saturday night.

Alabama tackle Andre Smith signed in time to be on the practice field for the Bengals Sunday afternoon.

"I talk to everybody -- EV-REEEE-BODY -- in the league,'' Ocho told me Sunday night. "You have to understand -- I know people on every team in this league, and I talk to all of them. This is not hard for me. It's just something I do naturally.''

Ocho is aiming to set some Tweet record. He's averaging 63 Tweets a day since becoming a Twitterer on May 15. I asked him if he thought he was, well, you know, over-Tweeting, and taking too much time away from the job that pays him a lot of money. "Really, if you think about it, it keeps me out of trouble,'' Ocho said. "In this job, we have a lot of time on our hands, and after I study and do my film work, I'm Tweeting. The time when trouble might be happening with other guys, I'm Tweeting.''

But there's another motivation. He gets out his message -- as ill-versed as it sometimes is -- the way he wants the message gotten out, and, as of Sunday, 137,679 people were following him. Listening, presumably. It's not necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison, but as of June, the circulation of the Cincinnati Enquirer was 188,956. He's being heard the way he wants to be heard, and by a huge segment of Bengaldom.

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