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Brooks, Saints heating up

At first, nobody was sure if the Saints' Aaron Brooks was the best quarterback on his team. Now he may be playing better than any quarterback in the league.

New Orleans is coming on strong and a lot of it is because of Brooks, who beat Jeff Blake for the starting job in the preseason. He has completed nearly 62 percent of his passes and is averaging 302 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions in his past five starts, good for a passer rating of 108.7.

Not coincidentally, the Saints offense as risen noticeably in that same span, going from 16th to fourth in the league.

"No quarterback in the league is playing better right now than our quarterback," receiver Joe Horn said.

Not that Brooks (3,069 passing yards) hasn't played well all season. Only Kurt Warner and Brett Favre have thrown for more yards. In fact, in 17 career starts, he has 4,396. Since 1970, only Warner has thrown for more in his first 17 starts.

TRIVIA QUESTION: Without looking it up, name the running back who leads the league in total yards from scrimmage.

ROUGH ENDING: It was bad enough for the Colts they got toasted by the Dolphins 41-6 on national TV on Monday. Then, on Wednesday, team president Bill Polian became embroiled in a nasty exchange on the radio with Jay Mohr, an actor-comedian who is part of an NFL pregame show.

Polian was disputing allegations Mohr made Tuesday on the nationally syndicated Jim Rome show that the Colts botched the diagnosis of running back Edgerrin James' torn knee ligament this season and that James no longer wanted to play in Indianapolis.

Mohr asserted that the Colts allowed James to practice one day with the injury before they knew it was a torn anterior cruciate ligament. In a rambling, wild response, Polian lost control. A day later, owner Jim Irsay was stepping lightly.

"Bill could have been a little bit more controlled to get his points across because they were very clear," Irsay said. "But his emotion is natural, because it has been a long season, a tough season. When someone starts talking loosely -- says those sorts of things -- it's very hurtful."

STAT OF THE WEEK: The Chargers, who have lost seven in a row, have had six-game losing streaks in four of the past five seasons, including the past three.

THE KEY CATCH: Bucs receiver Keyshawn Johnson (93 catches) narrowly holds the league lead in receptions ahead of Denver's Rod Smith (90), but expect Johnson to win the title. Why? Simply because the Broncos have a bye week, meaning Smith has three games left and Johnson has four.

By the way, if Johnson breaks the league record for catches in a season (123 by Herman Moore), he could make a run at the league's offensive player of the year award.

JUST A THOUGHT: Mike Holmgren's decision to go back to starter Ricky Watters ahead of a younger Shaun Alexander has raised plenty of eyebrows. Alexander is having a breakout season. He's already past 1,000 yards.

"But that's not enough, I guess," said Alexander, whose annoyance couldn't be concealed.

Hmm, isn't Holmgren the same coach who traded Ahman Green?

Holmgren will walk away from this either looking like a smart and loyal coach or an idiot. Don't be surprised if it's the latter.

GO FIGURE: In the Vikings' first six games, Randy Moss had one touchdown catch, and the team was 3-3. In their last six games, Moss has seven touchdown receptions, and they went 2-4.

DID YOU KNOW?: There are seven teams with winning percentages of at least .750 (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Chicago, Green Bay, Miami, Oakland and San Francisco), equaling the most at this point in the season since 1968.

HEADBANGERS: Is it any wonder Falcons quarterback Chris Chandler has been injury-prone? The Falcons have allowed 265 sacks since the 1997 season, the most in the league.

WHAT DID HE CALL MY MAMA?: The Saints and Rams don't like each other, to put it mildly, which should make their Monday night clash even more spicy. The trash talking started days ago.

Said Saints tackle Kyle Turley: "We'll call it the battle of the bulge because of all the Rams' swelled heads."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: 49ers receivers Terrell Owens on the 10-2 Rams: "If you ask me, I think they're unstoppable at this point."

QUOTE OF THE WEEK II: Smith, who has two injured ankles, describing himself in automobile terms: "If I'm a car, I'm running on two donuts."

TRIVIA ANSWER: Chiefs running back Priest Holmes with 1,635 yards.

-- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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