Again, it was an extraordinary game. But it wasn't more dramatic or memorable than Baltimore blowing its chance to end New England's undefeated season on a Monday night last December, right? The more I thought about it, I decided the fantasy subplots propelled the Philly-Dallas game to its record numbers. That had to be it.
There were a ton of subplots going in that game. The Eagles and Cowboys may be the NFC's two best teams. Both are fierce NFC East rivals. And there is that whole Terrell Owens-Donovan McNabb thing.
Those all contributed to great numbers of viewers. But fantasy football also brought in a ton of others.
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.
Meet The ... Personal nightmare for Donovan McNabb. Not only have the Eagles become the worst team in a loaded NFC East, but he can't stay healthy ... as much of the city of Philadelphia is now turning on him after learning of his shoulder tendinitis in mini-camp following bouts with a torn ACL, sports hernia, and bum ankle in the past few seasons. Oh, and the receivers aren't exactly All-World. Luckily he's got the ever-explosive Brian Westbrook behind him to provide stability to the offense.
The Breakout It's tough to tag a rookie as a solid breakout candidate. They are just so unpredictable and the hype that comes with them makes them overvalued in so many situations -- I saw Calvin Johnson picked before Roy Williams last season, for example -- but DeSean Jackson is stepping into a good situation for himself here. Reggie Brown has disappointed more often than not in his three seasons, and Kevin Curtis can't be counted on as more than a big-play threat on the outside. We know Andy Reid loves the throw the football, and Donovan can still sling it with the best. Grab Jackson late and reap the rewards by midseason.
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.
Meet The ... New look offense! Out with Al Saunders and Joe Gibbs and in with Jim Zorn's high-powered west coast offense. The offense Zorn is installing is the one used in Seattle under Mike Holmgren and has made fantasy stars of numerous players through the years, including Brett Favre, Shaun Alexander, and Matt Hasselbeck. This has caused everyone to expect that Clinton Portis -- since he's arguably more talented and much tougher than Alexander -- to become an absolute beast. That's all well and good ... just remember that Portis isn't following Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson on one side of the line.
The Breakout Jason Campbell has shown flashes of being a productive QB, but been derailed by injuries and inconsistency. He has plenty of tools and weapons to become a fantasy starter (top 12ish) in this offense. The Skins even tried to overload the receiving corps during the draft by selecting TE Fred Davis and WRs Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly with upper round selections. He did throw for 215, 348, 301, and 216 yards in the last four full games before he was injured. Be ready to pounce on Campbell as a quality backup with the chance to become a starter at some point in '08.
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.
Meet The ... Team everyone is sick of hearing about. If not, give it some time. You already have the circus around The Artist Formerly Known as Pac-Man and constant updates on Tony Romo's social life ... mix in the storylines involving my personal least favorite player in the NFL (he wears #81), speculation about the head coaching situation, and anything involving Jerry Jones; and it's a cornucopia of maddening media attention.
The Breakout Actually, most of the guys on this team are properly rated, but since I have to pick one I'm going with Patrick Crayton. He has been steadily improving since his rookie season in Dallas each year, and exploded once last year (7-184-2 in week 4). With Terry Glenn back in the fold some fantasy owners may downgrade Crayton's value. The thing is, he's still gonna be their second outside option. I like him to be a top-40 wideout for '08. He quietly set career highs in everything last year (50 catches, 697 yards, seven TDs) and will far exceed those.
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. Fantasy FanHouse is here to get you ready by previewing every team from a fantasy perspective.
Meet The ... David who slayed Goliath ... and you know how that goes in the world of fantasy football. At least you should. The residue of a strong post-season run by a team almost certainly means several players are going to be overrated the next fantasy season. I'm looking right at you, Thomas Jones. So the question with the Giants is, can you look past the post-season and judge flatly on what you think they'll do in this regular season? Imagine the Giants had lost in the first round at Tampa Bay. Now judge their fantasy players. That should be an accurate rating system. For example, settle down about Eli Manning. Sure, you can believe he's taken a giant (pun unintended, but I'm keeping the word choice) step forward in terms of maturity and taking care of the football. You also should remember that 13 QBs outscored him in fantasy points in '07. His last name doesn't do him any favors either. Hypnotize yourself into believing that Eli Smith lost in the first round to the Bucs. Now do you like him as a top ten QB? Me neither.
Fantasy FanHouse will be chiming in throughout the NFL draft with fantasy analysis of each fantasy relevant pick.
The Cowboys, out of the Bill Parcells regime, let Julius Jones go after Marion Barber, III, had become their elite running back. And with good reason. Now, it appears the speedy Felix Jones will be taking his spot as the change-of-pace, home-run type back in the Cowboys offense.
It might be tough for Jones to actually be fantasy relevant next year. Because of MB3's talent, and status as goalline back, Jones will probably only be able to accrue fantasy points for owners in 2008 by breaking off long runs when he's given touches. It still seems likely that he will get at least 10 carries a game though, which could make him valuable. For single league purposes, expect to only draft Jones in the late rounds as a handcuff or upside bench pick, barring a holdout by Barber.
Keeper leagues will be faced with a different quandry though. It seems unlikely that the Cowboys would want to let Barber walk, so Jones may struggle to be really relevant, really quickly. If that's case, meaning Barber stays in Dallas, Jones has to be considered at best the fourth, maybe fifth best fantasy running back option taken so far in the first round (behind Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, Rashard Mendenhall and possibly Chris Johnson) so far.
Although wide receiver Plaxico Burress missed every practice for the second straight week, it does appear that will start this afternoon when the Giants battle the Jets. And despite being at less than 100%, the 6-5 wideout matches up well against a much smaller Jets secondary. Expect him to put up some big time fantasy football numbers today.
In addition to Burress, the Giants will also see the return of running back Brandon Jacobs, who has not played since week one. And while Derrick Ward has been impressive in his absence, Jacobs is expected to receive the bulk of the Giants workload this afternoon.
Finally, the news on Osi Umenyiora does not seem nearly as positive. The defensive end who collected six sacks last week against Philadelphia missed two practices this week, and appears to be a game-time decision.
After two full days of practice, we still don't know the exact statuses for the players that are injured, but we do know who has and who hasn't been practicing. Here's the breakdown from the NFC, for fantasy purposes, of players that might be affected by injury this weekend:
Arizona Cardinals
Anquan Boldin (hip) - Boldin hasn't practiced either Wednesday or Thursday. The first day was kind of funny in that "ha-ha" kind of way but missing Thursday is pretty disconcerting. He's probably going to be listed as Questionable and you're probably going to have to plan on starting him against the Steelers unless he absolutely gets ruled out.
Every football season, my wife hooks me up with some new football gear. She gets me some new Redskins shirts, shorts, drawers, watches and even shoes. That's despite the fact that my football obsession causes her to become a 'football widow' each fall.
Well, her purchases means that we get some kooky catalogues sent to our house. We got one today from Harriet Carter, who specializes in quirky gifts. The quirkiest may be the NFL helmet cap, which is pictured. It comes in Redskins, Steelers, Eagles, Bears, Broncos, Cowboys, Patriots, Packers, Ravens, Giants and Jets.
NFL Helmet Cap keeps you warm and cozy as you root for your favorite team. Sporting official team colors and logos, it's the ultimate fan helmet! You can attach the snap-on neck warmer and chin strap or wear "helmet" alone as a hat. Fleece cotton blend is machine washable.
Um, who in the world would buy this? Well, except your grandmother who thinks you'll love it because it's your favorite team and you need to wear something to protect your cute little face in those cold winters. Maybe your wife will buy it for you ... knowing you'll hate it ... yet demand you wear it or it will hurt her feelings.
To be fair, the site has this item in its "just for fun" section ... so they know it's kind-of weird. Still, someone ... somewhere ... thought up this idea and someone else is getting paid to make them. .
While I rarely agree with anything ESPN's Bill Simmons says, he did raise an interesting point about Monday night's Cowboys-Eagles game. After all, it was only the most watched cable event ... ever.
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. 
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. 
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. 
Hear that? It's the pitter-patter of fantasy football season approaching. 
Fantasy FanHouse will be chiming in throughout the NFL draft with 
Although wide receiver 
After two full days of practice, we still don't know the exact statuses for the players that are injured, but we do know who has and who hasn't been practicing. Here's the breakdown from the NFC, for fantasy purposes, of players that might be affected by injury this weekend:
Every football season, my wife hooks me up with some new football gear. She gets me some new Redskins shirts, shorts, drawers, watches and even shoes. That's despite the fact that my football obsession causes her to become a 'football widow' each fall.
