#1 THE WEEK THAT WAS AND THE WEEK THAT WILL BE

An earthquake struck the NFL and it was not the beginning of my correspondence. The epicenter of this trembler was the right knee of one Dante Culpepper. The All-pro All-world quarter had his lower leg torqued almost completely off after a ten yard scamper. A brutal injury and the alphabet soup of torn ligament designations did nothing to quell the horror of the Halloween’s eve collision.

Aftershocks rolled over the Football landscape. Fred Smoot was left defenseless. Ruben Droughns could not handle the stress. And all those in Fantasy land were forced to abandon all hope of a Minnesota renaissance. Except Brad Johnson, on whose shoulders it falls to captain the purple and golden Titanic. Pick him up if you need some quarterback depth.

On the other side of the freakish injury coin, Teddy Bruschi returned to the field of play for the reigning champs. He promptly solidified what had been a porous New England defense by taking down ten opposing ball carriers. Bruschi arrived just in time for the return of boy Peyton and the Colts. The flywheels of team Belichick must be spinning furiously with thoughts of torture for the strong armed Cajun. A football fan’s delight on Monday night.

In Pittsburg, Big Ben showed again that he is the real deal. It would be presumptuous to refer to him as the finest in the league, but the folks in Steel City have nothing but blue skies ahead. I watched as young Benjammin’ steeled himself against a lineman’s attack and then threw the completion. Nice.

You cannot have a discussion of week 8 and not include Steve Smith. The dude looks like a Grand National with the throttle wide open. If you picked him up with your 2^nd or 3^rd receiver choice then you know exactly what I am talking about. Start him if he’s got the week off.

The Giants sent their prayers and the Skins up to Heaven and did old man Mara Proud. Big Blue made a statement in the NFC east. Lucky for the Skins you can make a statement almost every week in that division. They are my first pick, ever. The Washington Redskins will step back up to the plate and slap the reeling Eagles in cheese steak land.

We are blessed. As fans of the Game every snap that slams into the hands of Brett Farve has the chance to be fantastic. I never saw Namath. I never saw Fran. Farve is the gunslinger. He plays by the seat of his pants. It brought him a championship and we are all the better for it. And it could end any minute. One and six make those linemen look gigantic. Let’s hope the undermanned Pack can figure a way to win one for the Mississippi Madman. With Pitt on the horizon, it will not be easy. Play Driver and Chatman and Franks because Brett will be behind and chucking it.

The Jets. How to continue? They are on quarterback #3 after trying #4 and losing #1 and #2. Of all people LaDainian Tomlinson strides into Giants Stadium. In an aside, can the Jets get a home? How are they ever going to stand tall playing inside the blue walls? L.T. is so freakin’ good he already has a hall of fame nickname. Play him in all formats. The only Jet in your lineup could be Curtis Martin if you don’t have an obviously stronger option. This will be high scoring. He gets the ball even if Heimodingbag has no idea how to use him.

By the time I get to Arizona. What is the Green machine thinking benching McCown? Does he want to see Kurt Warner drop back and get clobbered again? He didn’t see enough of that already, or with the Giants last year? Kurt’s wife has not convinced the Cards that he is a meathead? Play Seattle D as Kurt likes to sit. A lot.

Chi town’s finest. Monsters of the midseason. They have played ball and they are in first place as Lovie Smith has so properly pointed out to the press. Poor N.O. Their city was destroyed. No foolin’, New Orleans is freakin’ empty. Folks have been pounding on Tom Benson, but in his defense, the Big Easy is gone and it might be years before there are enough people letting the good times roll to sell out a game. Not that they did before the apocalypse.

Play Tom Jones. Play the Chicago defense. And this week play Mushin Muhammad. This is the week that the travel, the disaster and the home games in who knows where catch up to the Saints and the Bears show they are for real. The kid is learning quick. The Bears get points this week, and I am picking them for the victory.

Ya thought I was gonna pass? Hah? No way. The game of the week is the Colts and the Patriots and here are my two cents. Colts. Damn Pats had enough winning.