MMQB (cont.)

Stat of the Week

Percy Harvin led all receivers in broken/missed tackles in 2009, surpassing Wes Welker by nine. Peter Read Miller/SI

Sneak Preview of the Must-Have Book Dept.: I always love Football Outsiders Almanac, in which Aaron Schatz and his footballoutsiders.com brethren attack stats and delve into gametape like few others can. (Football Outsiders Almanac 2010 is due in stores in July, by the way.) But the FO crew has just finished its annual breakdown of tackles broken and tackles missed, and two of the numbers that jumped out at me belonged to young turks Percy Harvin and Ray Rice. Harvin led all receivers in 2009 by a wide margin with 25 tackles broken (Wes Welker was next with 16). Here's the top 10 running backs in tackles broken in 2009:

1. Chris Johnson, Tennessee, 61
2. Ray Rice, Baltimore, 57
3. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota, 56.
4. Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville, 52
5. Steven Jackson, St. Louis, 50
6. Jonathan Stewart, Carolina, 46
7. DeAngelo Williams, Carolina, 40
7. Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh, 40
9. Fred Jackson, Buffalo, 35
10. Knowshon Moreno, Denver, 33

A broken tackle, as defined by Football Outsiders, is either a play in which the defender has the ballcarrier wrapped up -- or a play in which the ballcarrier fakes a defender out of his jock. Subjective, but you get the point. It's a good measure of hard runners and elusive runners, at the same time.

Quote of the Week I

"I agree.''
-- Jacksonville rookie defensive lineman Tyson Alualu, after being told at Jaguars rookie mini-camp that the perception in the football world is that he was one of the biggest reaches in the draft (from a story by AOL Fanhouse's Chris Harry).

Quote of the Week II

"I think the individual who asked that question, somebody ought to whack him in the head.''
-- Mike Ditka to host Dan LeBatard on 790 The Ticket in Miami, referring to Miami GM Jeff Ireland asking Des Bryant in a pre-draft interview if his mother was a prostitute (viasportsradiointerviews.com).

Quote of the Week III

"Jeff Ireland is a man of great capability and integrity and he is well deserving of my continued confidence. We are going to take a hard look at our interview practices and we will make improvements that will allow us to get the important information we need about players in whom we are making a major investment, but without being insensitive.''
-- Miami owner Stephen Ross, announcing he will not discipline Ireland for asking Bryant if his mother was a prostitute.

Quote of the Week IV

"I'd rather turn this club into a bar room brawl. Get as rowdy as Roethlisberger in a bathroom stall."
-- Eminem, the rapper, in his new song "Despicable,'' referring to the infamous incident with the Pittsburgh quarterback.

Factoid of the Week That May Interest Only Me

In his 22-year career, Jeff Feagles punted footballs for 40.46 miles.

In their combined 36 seasons, all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith and all-time receiving-yardage leader Jerry Rice combined to gain 23.44 miles rushing and receiving, respectively.

Enjoyable/Aggravating Travel Note of the Week

Now this is good hotel care: Last Tuesday night, I checked into the Renaissance New York Hotel 57 in midtown Manhattan for one night. (Had some meetings in the city on Wednesday.) I got the key card at the front desk and elevatored up to the room. The bed in the room was made, but the rest of the room was dirty. So I called the front desk and asked if they could either clean the room or move me to another room.

"Mr. King, we're terribly sorry,'' the front-desk person said. "We'll send someone up with a key for another room in a moment.''

Two minutes later, a bellman came up and handed me a key to room 500. Meant nothing to me. "I'm sure you'll like this room,'' the bellman said with a smile. So I went to room 500, a corner suite overlooking Lexington Avenue and East 57th Street, at least 2.5 times the size of the other room, with a nice desk and sitting room. Whoa! The other room wasn't that messy. You've got my business for a long time now, Mr. Marriott.

Tweet of the Week

"Need you to take Olympic drug testing, still don't understand how you stop me 2 weeks straight #seeyouThanksgiving''
-- OGOchoCinco, Bengals wideout Chad OchoCinco, in a Tweet sent to Jets corner Darrelle Revis' Twitter account over the weekend.

The Ocho was held to two catches for 28 yards in eight quarters against Revis. The Bengals and Jets play on Thanksgiving night this fall.