The Thursday night game between the Patriots and Jets was a quarterback-friendly, overtime shootout. The kind of game fantasy owners dream of, unless of course they were part of the faction that watched New England quarterback Matt Cassel’s 400 yards and three touchdowns waste away on their bench. Brett Favre, meanwhile, had the far better game in reality, efficiently completing 26-of-33 passes for 258 yards and two touchdowns in a 34-31 overtime win.

For football fans and Bill Belichick bashers, there was more joy in reality than in fantasy Thursday night. For fantasy owners with enough reason to put Cassel in their starting lineups, there was plenty of joy in a breakout performance that went into the NFL record books. In addition to monster passing numbers, Cassel rushed for 62 yards and became the first quarterback in league history to accumulate 400 passing yards and 60 rushing yards in a game. Read more »

Avid football viewers can rejoice over the NFL’s addition of the Thursday Night Football game. Last week’s Broncos-Browns mid-week special did everything to complete the tri-fecta of fantastic night games last week. This time around, two big-time AFC East rivals will look to continue the primetime drama from Foxboro.

On top of that, two of the best cold-weather teams battle in Buffalo, the NFL’s oldest rivalry unfolds in “the definitive” football stadium, and the ‘Boys and ‘Skins hit it off again from our nation’s capitol. Read more »

The NFL is preparing for Week 11 as the weekend approaches. Festivities will, for the second straight week, be kicked off a little early with the NFL network’s broadcast of the Jets-Patriots contest on Thursday.

Besides the usual division rivalry/Man-genius vs. Belichick/student vs. master plot lines billed for this game, the comeback angle is now in play as well. As is the case with a few other games this week, the Thursday nighter will allow a former impact player to return to prominence in 2008. Read more »

Patriots fans and many fantasy owners saw their hopes and dreams for 2008 quickly erased as Tom Brady went down for the season in the first quarter of Week 1. Now, over two months later, those same Pats fans and the collective fantasy world are looking at the sincere possibility of having to limp through another season without New England’s golden boy.

Since having his knee repaired after the injury, it is speculated that Brady has undergone more surgeries due to the knee becoming infected. The Boston Herald reported that, “the fear is the patellar tendon graft used to replace Brady’s anterior cruciate ligament is in danger of becoming compromised.” If this does indeed become reality, the process of repairing his knee would go back to square one and his ‘09 season would be in serious jeopardy. Read more »

Finally, a lopsided game on Monday Night Football in 2008. However, it was the team not expected to prevail that was on the winning side of a 41-7 rout.

The host New England Patriots spanked the Denver Broncos in a game that left Patriots fantasy owners smiling. Oppositely, the blowout also left us wondering where in the heck has Denver’s high-powered offense gone over the past few weeks?

In what was billed to be a clash of AFC powers, it seemed that only one contender showed up to play; likewise, the quarterback in white expected to shine on the national level was upstaged by a no-name fill-in not named Brady. Read more »

Alright, back to square one. After a 5-9 Week 6, I’m back at an even .500 (43-43-2) on the year. All I can say is that if the Rams can win a game, then I can come up with a big week.

Before looking at the picks, let’s all visualize the unbeaten Titans and try to block out the negative energy of teams like the Bengals and Lions who have combined for an 0-11 start to the year. OK, that’s enough visualizing. It’s go time! Read more »

TV junkies had probably already circled this Sunday night’s game months in advance. The long awaited rematch of New England and San Diego, last year’s AFC Championship Game, although with a different feel, still has the potential to go down to the wire.

Also, former division rivals square off when the Cowboys visit Arizona and the Ravens flock to Indianapolis, and current division rivals duke it out inside a Minnesota dome and in front of a pirate ship in Florida. Read more »

Three weeks is plenty of time to see monumental changes in the ever-evolving National Football League. Of course, Tom Brady’s injury was a huge blow, in fantasy and reality alike, but a multitude of other changes can and will take place for the remainder of the year. Gus Frerotte, Ronnie Brown and Rudi Johnson were some of the biggest beneficiaries of Sunday’s changes, as all three saw their fantasy stocks soar.

Injuries open doors immediately for opportunities in fantasy, but ineffecitiveness can do the same, albeit at a much slower pace. With a little projection, one can see backup Brady Quinn taking the reins of Cleveland’s offense by the end of September, Drew Stanton doing the same in Detroit, or New York’s Steve Smith emerging in the face of constant double teams on star wideout Plaxico Burress. Read more »

Week 2 is no time to get antsy, but there is still work to do in filling out the depth of a fantasy roster. Waiver wire selections may not be for immediate benefit, but they can certainly pay dividends if an owner makes good, speculative picks.

Backup quarterbacks are good examples because they rarely make the jump from free agent to fantasy starter. But, with at least one fill-in needed for a bye week and no guarantees of pristine health, their presence on a roster is vital.

In most leagues, running backs and wide receivers are scarce commodities. Free agents at both positions are either limited in their abilities or not going to produce immediate results. Read more »

Word is out that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will miss the rest of the 2008 season with a knee injury suffered in a 17-10 win over the Chiefs on Sunday. Now, nothing is official yet, as the early diagnosis is mainly based on the reaction of Brady’s teammates, who seem convinced that the quarterback has taken his last snap of the year.

We should hear something more concrete on Monday when Brady has an MRI on his ailing left knee.

Obviously, this is terrible, terrible news for the Patriots, and just as terrible for fantasy owners who invested first-round draft picks in last season’s league MVP. If Brady’s season is over, backup Matt Cassel won’t replace his production or have nearly the same positive effect on that offense, specifically wide receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker. As good as the supporting cast is, Brady’s confidence, poise and accuracy made the whole thing go. Read more »