MMQB (cont.)

Ten Things I Think I Think

With sack artist Antwan Odom done for the season, the Bengals' defense is hurting. AP Peter King's Mailbag Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Peter King on Twitter

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 6:

a. Three words for Cleveland GM George Kokinis regarding Josh Cribbs: Pay the man.

b. A long, long time ago -- oh, maybe four weeks -- most of us were saying the NFC East was the best division in football. We'll see how things play out this year, but right now I think the AFC North and NFC North might be better, and the NFC South is close.

c. Could Michael Vick be any more invisible?

d. Phils 11, Eagles 9.

e. Wow: Adalius Thomas a healthy scratch for New England. That's amazing. Junior Seau plays, Thomas sits.

f. The Patriots had 439 more passing yards than Tennessee: 432 to minus-seven. Minus-seven! On 14 throws.

g. Billboards coming down in Buffalo this morning?

h. Seattle wins at home by 41, then loses at home by 24. That's the season in Seattle.

i. Starting strong safety for Houston Sunday: Bernard Pollard.

2. I think I've got to question the Bears leaving themselves without a pick in the first two rounds for two straight drafts. I liked the Jay Cutler trade, which cost two first-round picks, a third- and Kyle Orton. But in sending their 2010 second-rounder to Tampa Bay for disappointing pass-rusher Gaines Adams (13.5 sacks in 36 Buccaneer games), the Bears likely won't pick 'til sometime in the eighties ... in one of the best drafts in years. If Chicago doesn't get significantly more out of Adams (with ace defensive-line coach Rod Marinelli becoming his tutor), GM Jerry Angelo will regret this deal for a long time.

3. I think it'll be interesting to watch Armen Keteyian's story on the CBS morning show Tuesday, because it could prove there was something more than a casual business relationship between Steve McNair's girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, and Adrian Gilliam Jr., the man who sold Kazemi the gun she used to kill McNair and herself.

Keteyian, an investigative reporter with CBS News, will report that there was more than the "casual, happenstance'' relationship described by Nashville police between Gilliam and Kazemi. Rather, I'm told the report will reveal "a stunning number of phone calls and text messages'' between the two in the days leading up to the murder/suicide. So now the story gets deeper. At the very least, it could force police to confront why they didn't find the phone records that Keteyian found, and to delve into what they mean.

4. I think the NFC West became a two-horse race Sunday, with Seattle's no-show against Arizona. Arizona-San Francisco meet Dec. 14 in the game that could decide the division.

5. I think we've all heard just about enough on Rush Limbaugh's failed part-ownership bid, and I don't have much to add. Except this: Yes, I feel sure he would have gotten rejected had he advanced further down the ownership line, because he would be the kind of distraction the league doesn't want. It might not be fair, but if Limbaugh got the team and kept broadcasting (I'm sure he would), what would stop beat guys for the Rams from monitoring his show, then going into the locker room and asking players, "Hey, your owner just said he hopes the president fails. What do you think of that?'' Maybe it wouldn't happen that way. And it certainly isn't fair that a man's public politics may well have kept him from owning a team. But Limbaugh would have been a living, breathing, daily distraction, and that's something the NFL wasn't going to have.

6. I think two teams suffered major, major injuries that will impact the pennant race. The NFL's co-leading sacker, Antwan Odom, is out for the year with an Achilles tear, and by the time you read this, we may find out that Jets' nose man Kris Jenkins is gone for the year with a knee injury. That would be a killer; Jenkins is New York's top run player.

7. I think the trading deadline, as usual, won't have much meat to it. Deadline is Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern Time. I expect the Jags to listen to offers (any offer) for defensive end Quentin Groves, the Chargers, for Shawne Merriman, and the Chiefs might make a couple of minor deals but nothing involving linebacker Derrick Johnson. As usual, it'll be much ado about very little. Over-under for number of trades in the next day and a half: 2.5.

8. I think this is what I liked about Week 6:

a. Wes Welker, 10 catches for 150. Ho hum.

b. The Texans' run D has been suspect all summer and early fall, but it bottled up Cedric Benson (16 carries for 44 yards) very well in Cincinnati.

c. Speaking of teams not known for run defense, the Cards really stonewalled the Seahawks, holding them to 0-for-11 on third-down conversions and seven first downs total.

d. A great job by Ed Hochuli in New Orleans late in the first half, fully explaining why he didn't overturn a Scott Shanle fumble return. Instead of just saying, "The ruling on the field stands,'' Hochuli explained that Shanle was on his way down and his knee was on the ground while the ball was beginning to come out of Shanle's grasp; but because the ball was in Shanle's grasp at the moment the knee hit, it couldn't be ruled a fumble.

e. Jacksonville: 33 first downs. Maurice Jones-Drew: 33 rushes. For 133 yards.

f. Arizona is starting to play like the Cards played in January.

g. Steve Slaton's receiving ability. Schaub threw him six passes, he caught them all, and he gained 102 yards. "When we get a matchup of Steve against the linebacker, he's going to win that one all day,'' said Schaub.

h. Ray Rice. I love watching this guy play football. Twenty touches, 194 yards, touchdown runs of 22 and 32. His burst is better than you think, his hands are terrific, and he's a willing blocker. Averaging 7.7 yards on the ground, against the Vikes, is a feat.

i. Thomas Jones. A 210-yard rushing day, best in franchise history, should be more than a footnote. But the Jets were so bad Sunday -- 15 penalties, five picks by The Sanchize, letting the Bills and their Harvard quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, hang around -- that I can't muster up much more than an attaboy for Jones.

9. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 6:

a. I would like more football out of FOX's NFL pregame show and less yuks. The endless har-har-har obscures the football knowledge of some smart people who have much to say about pro football. Curt Menefee asked Howie Long about the pathetic Raiders yesterday. Howie said something about how it would be easier to fix the health-care problem in America. That's it. Nothing on the Raiders. I understand if Howie's not going to make a critical comment about his beloved former team, but if he's not, why ask the questions?

b. Rex, you know you've got to take the holding duties away from Steve Weatherford, your punter. Weatherford's mishandled snap prevented Jay Feely from attempting the potential game-winner against Buffalo.

c. Seattle's leading rushers versus Arizona: Julius Jones 5, Justin Forsett 4, Edgerrin James 3, Matt Hasselbeck 2. Eleven carries, 14 yards as a team.

d. Washington's offense. It's offensive.

e. Biggest Redskins problem isn't Jim Zorn. It's the offensive line caving in so consistently.

f. You think Cleveland's drop problem ended with the trade of Braylon Edwards? Wrong. Eleven more in two games weeks since the trade.

g. The field looks 240 yards long when the Browns start drives.

h. I'd like to see better decision-making by Cutler late in big games. He just wings some balls. That would have driven Josh McDaniels crazy.

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

a. Shouldn't every Curb Your Enthusiasm show this season feature the Seinfeld cast?

b. My thanks to the nice people at BookEnds in Ridgewood, N.J., for hosting me last Thursday night for a Monday Morning Quarterback book signing. I'm at Barnes and Noble at the Prudential Center in Boston at lunchtime Wednesday for another signing.

c. I've gotten a kick out of your e-mails and Tweets asking when I'd be coming to City X or State Y for a book signing. Uh, let's just say the budget for promotion began and ended with the New York/Boston stuff. I'd love to come to sign in various places, and I'm sure I'll do two or three more -- I just don't travel as much during the season as I used to.

d. Coffeenerdness: You can rotate in some different food every once in a while, Starbucks. That wouldn't kill you, that little imagination.

e. Congrats, Laura King, for running your first half-marathon Sunday in San Francisco. Wish we could have been there. You're an inspiration to your too-dormant old man.

f. After watching C.C. Sabathia plow though the Angels Friday night, one leftover thought from the sudden end to the Red Sox season: The way Sabathia went after Bobby Abreu (strikeout, strikeout, line out, fly out) is a good lesson for Jon Lester, who pitched around Abreu like he was a cross between Albert Pujols and Babe Ruth in Game 1 of the division series. Lester nibbled more than Daisuke Matsuzaka in walking Abreu in the first, third and fifth innings, throwing 12 balls in 18 pitches to him. It cost him with a walk before Torii Hunter's home run in the third. You're good, Jon Lester. Really good. Go after the man.

g. Totally agree: Charlie Manuel was the anti-Grady Little Friday. With that shaky bullpen, removing Pedro Martinez after 87 pitches and seven innings with a 1-0 lead (and after a 10-pitch, 1-2-3 seventh) was borderline unconscionable. I realize Manuel wanted not to abuse Pedro after a 16-day layoff, but come on.

h. I can't take these playoff off-days. Joel Sherman made a great point in the New York Post the other day: Last year, the Phils had 15 off-days in the playoffs ... and major-league teams had 19 scheduled off-days during the six-month regular season. I cover a sport that's a slave to TV. But baseball allows the momentum of the games at the most important time of year to be interrupted consistently.

Who I Like Tonight

Amazing to have a must-win game in the middle of October, but that's what San Diego has. They'd fall 3.5 games behind Denver with a loss to the Broncos tonight. It's a hunch as much as anything else, but I say the desperate team wins, 19-16, with Philip Rivers outplaying Kyle Orton. Barely.