FanHouse Greg Lewis

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet The ...
Troops of Tom Brady. Yes, there are plenty of guys on this team who matter -- not sure if you've heard of Randy Moss, for example -- but this season it is all about the health of Tom Brady. He's going to be nearly a year removed from tearing his ACL in 2008 when the season begins. Now that Matt Cassel is gone, the weight of the team of on Brady's shoulders.

Really, the picture here is perfect. There are guys in the background wearing the same uniform, but they are a bit blurry. Brady is front and center, and the focus of the photo.

---

---

No team has been more active in free agency than the Broncos. They've signed 12 players, including wide receiver Jabar Gaffney, who followed Josh McDaniels to Denver from New England.

And while adding Gaffney seems innocuous enough -- he's a role player and that's it -- apparently, the Patriots took umbrage at McDaniels pilfering from his former employer on the way out the door. So much so that, according to Brad Briggs' sources, they decided to send Matt Cassel to Kansas City instead of Denver, and created the whole Jay Cutler melodrama in the process. Good times.

Missing the playoffs for the first time in five years seems to have sparked a burning desire in the New England front office to bring in every available player this offseason. After already signing Fred Taylor, Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs, Greg Lewis and Leigh Bodden, NFL.com's Vic Carucci passes along the information that the Patriots may be ready to take a run at Carolina Panthers franchise player Julius Peppers.

That sound you're hearing is the opposing AFC East quarterbacks gently sobbing into their pillows.

The New England Patriots continued to re-tool their roster on Saturday by signing veteran wide receiver Joey Galloway to a one-year deal, as reported by Steve Duemig of WDAE (via PFT). Galloway, 37, was part of the offseason roster purge in Tampa Bay after catching only 13 passes in 2008.

With Randy Moss and Wes Welker cemented as starters, Galloway will be, at best, the No. 3 option in the passing game for quarterback Tom Brady, likely competing with newcomer Greg Lewis for passes.

Earlier this week, the National Football Post's Mike Lombardi suggested that a team looking for a Wes Welker-type player should give serious consideration to trading for Saints restricted free agent Lance Moore. It would take a second-round pick, which seems eminently reasonable given that's what the Patriots gave up to get Welker.

No one's yet made a play for Moore, but on Thursday, New England sent a fifth-round pick to the Eagles for Greg Lewis. A seemingly odd move, until you consider that Lewis is in the mold of Welker and Lewis -- a smallish, elusive slot receiver who also plays special teams (noteworthy distinction: Lewis excels on the coverage teams, not as a returner like Welker and, to a lesser extent, Moore.

The Eagles will be without their top offensive threat Sunday in San Francisco.

Brian Westbrook, who's coping with a few broken ribs, will miss the game.

With Westbrook out of the lineup, the entire complexion of the Eagles high-powered offense changes. Correll Buckhalter isn't a bad option, but he's no Westbrook -- who compiled over 2,100 yards from scrimmage last season. The main blow for the offense is the loss in Westbrook's ability to catch passes from out of the backfield. Donovan McNabb will be leaned upon heavily to make plays himself.

Also of note in the Eagles report was that Reggie Brown will miss the game, and that Kevin Curtis might play. Even if Curtis goes, DeSean Jackson is obviously going to be an integral part of the offense this weekend. Along with Jackson and Buckhalter, the Eagles will likely need Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis, and L.J. Smith to step up their respective games. They cannot afford to lose anymore ground in the beastly NFC East.

Fantasy Spin:
Buckhalter's a viable start, Jackson's a must-start, and McNabb is always a must-start. Take a look at Curtis as a last-minute desperation sleeper in deep leagues or on teams with significant bye week issues. If he plays, he's liable to shake free for a deep one.

The Eagles will be without their top offensive threat Sunday in San Francisco.

Brian Westbrook, with a few broken ribs, will miss the game.

With Westbrook out of the lineup, the entire complexion of the Eagles high-powered offense changes. Correll Buckhalter isn't a bad option, but he's no Westbrook -- who compiled over 2100 yards from scrimmage last season. The main blow for the offense is the loss in Westbrook's ability to catch passes from out of the backfield. Donovan McNabb will be leaned upon heavily to make plays himself.

Also of note in the Eagles report was that Reggie Brown will miss the game, and that Kevin Curtis might play. Even if Curtis goes, DeSean Jackson is obviously going to be an integral part of the offense this weekend. Along with Jackson and Buckhalter, the Eagles will likely need Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis, and L.J. Smith to step up their respective games. They cannot afford to lose anymore ground in the beastly NFC East.

Fantasy Spin:
Buckhalter's a viable start, Jackson's a must-start, and McNabb is always a must-start. Take a look at Curtis as a last-minute desperation sleeper in deep leagues or on teams with significant bye week issues. If he plays, he's liable to shake free for a deep one.

Please note these changes when you go through the RB and WR rankings.

If you pay attention to fantasy football, odds are you have something riding on tonight's game. Combining these two teams, you have a veritable fantasy paradise. Let's run through the players who are fantasy relevant and examine their possibilities for blowing up, shall we?

Tony Romo -- Brinson's already covered his bad splits against Philly at home, but that's a small sample. There's no reason to sit him in any format.

Marion Barber -- He's banged up, and he's a physical back. The Eagles have a gritty defense. I don't like the way these things add up. Again, though, you can't sit him because he's a touchdown machine. You're liable to miss out on two scores if you get nuts enough to bench him. That should overtake the possibility that his yardage numbers don't end pretty.

Terrell Owens -- What a pathetic person he is to go out of his way to call Donovan McNabb jealous. He's not half the man McNabb is, nor will he ever be. Does that impact fantasy? Of course not, it was just an unrelated rant. Look, there's fire here on both sides. The Eagles really want to stop him, and they have the tools to do just that. T.O., however, loves the spotlight and wants to prove something to the Eagles. Something's gotta give, and I'm betting it's T.O. Eagles blanket him, bust-city. Book it.

When a receiver owned by nearly 98 percent of people goes down unexpectedly, it might not have the Tom Brady implications, but it sure can rattle your cage.

Saints Marques Colston will be out 4-6 weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb, which I heard isn't the greatest injury when your job is to actually catch the ball. With the Saints offense looking to rock like some predicted, this is a huge blow for most. So, while you wait a month before he gets back to Drew Brees' pattern boy, here are a few waiver heroes you should grab.

If you missed the Broncos Monday nighter against the Raiders, you probably have no clue who Eddie Royal is. The rookie receiver out of Virginia Tech looked to be Jay Cutler's guy, catching 9 balls for 146 yards and a touchdown, which equated to 22.5 fantasy points. He is probably the hottest waiver wire guy on the market right now, but is still only owned by 13 percent of fantasy teams on Fleaflicker. The only question will be the return of Brandon Marshall this week to the line-up. Marshall was suspended for the season opener but has proclaimed he will catch 9 or 10 balls a game, every game, this season. If that holds true (rolls eyes), then Royal will be second fiddle in Denver.

It was ugly early for the Birds. Greg Lewis made the decision to field a punt inside his own ten yard line. This proved to be costly. Lewis instantly got smacked and coughed up the ball, which the Packers recovered in the endzone to go up 7-0.

The Packers followed it up with a field goal and took an early 10-0 lead. You would have thought a ten point lead on their home field of Lambeau would be a huge boost for the Pack. Brett Favre helped the Eagles out a bit and tossed a poor pass on third down which was intercepted by Sheldon Brown. Takeo Spikes almost had another key interception at the Packers own 10 yard line. Takeo couldn't come up with it.

The Eagles started off like a grade school team notching penalty after penalty. But they were down 10-0 so early, they had plenty of time to right the ship. Brian Westbrook is a machine. When the Birds are sputtering, getting Westbrook the ball in the open field is a panacea for the Eagles offense.

McNabb connected to Jason Avant on a nice ball over the middle to tie the game up at 10 going into the half. The Packers threatened on the final drive of the half, but a huge sack on Favre pushed them out of FG range. Look for a battle in the second half as two teams continue to try and find their identities.