Still up in Stamford, wrapping up a great day of football with the Patriots-Eagles while working on tomorrow's Morning After. Couple random thoughts to get off my chest ...

1. Of course the Patriots can be beaten on a given night, and the Eagles showed that tonight. The Eagles offensive line neutralized New England's pass rush, and the Eagles smartly spread out the Pats to expose their biggest weakness: secondary depth.

This is the best Patriots team I've ever seen, but it's far from the best defense. They give up a lot of yards-per-carry, and the cornerbacks after Asante Samuel are ordinary. They struggle with versatile backs like Brian Westbrook. The Patriots are a very good defense, but not great like some of their past units. Losing Rosevelt Colvin for an extended period would be a huge blow.

As John Madden said, the Eagles put up a blueprint tonight, and teams are going to copy much of what was seen on both sides of the ball. Now of course the Eagles played brilliantly, and still lost, which shows how hard it's going to be to go into Foxborough and win. But tonight is a great reminder the Patriots are mortal like all teams, especially on defense. And the Colts, for one, have the weapons to make them look mortal again.

2. Asante Samuel has a tattoo that says Get Paid, and he's certainly going to be a happy and rich man this offseason. What an encore year he's enjoyed, perhaps better than 2006. The Patriots won't be able to franchise him again, so they may have to give him $30 million guaranteed and more than $10 million-per-year to keep him.

3. I think Broncos-Bears was the game of the year. Certainly not the two best teams, but a wildly entertaining and well-played contest that included a lot of gutsy efforts from both sides. Devin Hester is ridiculous, but Bernard Berrian, Adrian Peterson, Rex Grossman, Andre Hall, Brandon Marshall, and Jay Cutler all deserve some kudos for fantastic games.

Catch everyone tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Rotoworld news monster Evan Silva has the Ricky Williams situation well covered in Last Minute Decisions (which really you need to be reading every week if you love football.)

It made me realize I overlooked one key update to the rankings: What to do with Ricky? I don't want to start Jesse Chatman or Ricky Monday night, but if you are desperate to fill your flex position, don't view Williams as a huge downgrade if Chatman is out.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

WR, TE changes: Brandon Marshall takes a small hit with Javon Walker back. I'm ranking Walker as a high WR3. He's a gamble, but one with a high ceiling in a favorable matchup. If you can tolerate some risk, I'd go for it. Brandon Stokley is no longer much of an option.

I moved Lee Evans up with Rashean Mathis out for the Jaguars. Bobby Engram was a bit too low, so he's moved up. Reggie Brown, L.J. Smith, and Kevin Curtis all pay the A.J. Feeley tax. Nate Washington moves up following confirmation that he'll start.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Here's what we changed on the latest Week 12 rankings.

QB: Jay Cutler moved up a spot with Javon Walker back. A.J. Feeley is on the board at the No. 24 spot.

RB: Adrian Peterson is ranked as if he'll start. I don't expect that to happen, but that's what you need to know. If he's back, he'll probably split carries. Chester Taylor is also ranked as if he'll start, which is what is likely to happen. He's not an option as a backup. That may not make a lot of sense to everyone, but it's what people need to know - how they are ranked as starters.

Earnest Graham moved up with Michael Pittman off the list. He's a little safer. Frank Gore moved down below Maurice Morris I think I just puked in my mouth. Cedric Benson was moved down below Jamal Lewis. Denver's run defense is improving. Derrick Ward is off the list, with Reuben Droughns moving up.

Jesse Chatman moves down because he's not 100%. We'll know Saturday. Anthony Thomas moves up, but I still don't trust him. Chris Brown moves up with Chris Henry off the list.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The way Ryan Grant is playing, I don't think the Packers are going to invest an early draft pick at running back in April.

I've been impressed every time I've seen Grant play, and he continues to show off maturing parts of his game. Some from Thursday ...

1. Toughness: On a short week, coming off an injury, Grant took practically every snap for the Packers.

Continue reading "Grant could stick" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Herm has no choice but to play Smith now

I had very high hopes for Kolby Smith heading into the season, drafting him onto my one dynasty league team. I liked what I saw from Smith in college, but it was mostly a pick because of opportunity. Any young backup to an injury risk like Larry Johnson figured to be valuable.

He's disappointed so far. He was lost in preseason action, and an aging Priest Holmes passed him on the depth chart quickly after getting off the PUP list. With Holmes now out for the year, Smith will get every chance to prove he belongs.

Continue reading "Kolby Smith faces easy schedule" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Is this it for David Carr? I think that's the logical question after John Fox made it clear Wednesday that Vinny Testaverde was Carolina's starter, no matter how healthy Carr is.

Vinny Testaverde was signed less than two months ago and is 44 years old. He didn't have the benefit of learning Carolina's personnel and system all summer like Carr, and yet John Fox, with his job potentially on the line, believes Testaverde gives the Panthers a better chance to win.

Carr has never been a player who has inspired confidence in his teammates, and one suspects that came into play here. Carr usually sounds like a balanced, logical guy to the media. Someone who doesn't view football as life. And while that's a healthy outlook, it's not one that NFL front offices look for.

If Carr can't beat out Vinny Testaverde, he might struggle just to find a backup job next year. And if he's not willing to take very little money (for him) to battle for a roster spot, his once promising career could be over as fast as you can say Tim Couch.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

It turned out the believers and the cynics were both right. Priest Holmes did make it all the way back, even starting a pair of games. It's hard to call his entire comeback a publicity stunt when he went through half a season on PUP-list exile. He worked hard to get back on the field.

But the skeptics, Jason Whitlock primarily among them, will raise their eyebrows at the way he's suddenly leaving the game again with a mysterious injury after a mostly unproductive return.

And while Holmes earned this final chance with the Chiefs because of his history with the team, the entire process has largely been pointless for Kansas City. They have less depth at running back than any team in the NFL, they have upset their star runner, and they now have an untested fifth-round rookie and no one else to man the position. That's not Priest's fault; it's Carl Peterson's.

Continue reading "Priest goes out his way" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Its sounds like Brandon Jacobs could could miss more than one game, and that's why I'd pick up Derrick Ward over Reuben Droughns as a waiver pickup this week. Ward has shown he can be a quality fantasy option.

The Newark Star-Ledger is on their own saying Ward will play this week. He wouldn't be an attractive RB2 pick against the Vikings, but he'll become a solid option after that if Jacobs stays out.

Droughns is useful in small doses, but he has a 2.0 yards-per-carry average as Jacobs' backup the last four weeks. I see the Giants go very pass-heavy this Sunday regardless.

Thinking long-term, here's how I'd rank the pickups Mr. Patrick Dahl wrote about in Waiver Wired today...

Continue reading "Take Ward over Droughns" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

We're not usually in the business of breaking news at Rotoworld. Our goal is to have every scrap of NFL news posted to our site second, to aggregate everything faster than the competition so you don't have to.

This Larry Johnson post is an exception. Here's what we wrote:

Continue reading "On the Larry Johnson post" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)