Nothing is better than entering into the next season of your dynasty league with a roster brimming with starting running backs. How delightful! Should I start them? Should I trade them? Oh look, that team doesn’t have any - pity!

But the 2008 NFL draft didn’t take potshots at starting running backs. It approached the NFL backfields with a shotgun and by the time the second round - THE SECOND ROUND - already seven starters in the league were left scratching their head while fantasy owners reviewed their rosters like the dead and dying from a battlefield report. Let’s see who just lost fantasy value.

Darren McFadden (OAK) - The 1.04 pick in the draft made holding Justin Fargas no longer all that attractive even if he did sign a nice contract a few months ago. Lamont Jordan and Dominic Rhodes are just waiting for the phone call.

Jonathan Stewart (CAR) - The 1.13 pick was a mild surprise but only because it is year three of fantasy owners waiting for DeAngelo Williams to get his shot at being the starter. Not going to happen. He’ll still play but Stewart is everything that Foster never was and Williams apparently will never be.

Felix Jones (DAL) - Enough with the crying about why Julius Jones took carries away from the always more productive Marion Barber. We’re still facing Barber and Jones only this time it is Felix who was the first pick of the Cowboys and just the third overall RB taken in a draft considered rich in running backs. Barber still plays and still scores touchdowns. That whole pipe dream about 25 carries a game just flew out the top of Texas Stadium though. Oh yeah, hold out longer Barber. Not like the Cowboys have any other choice… no wait. Now they do.

Rashard Mendenhall (PIT) - This was a surprise but so was Mendenhall being available at the 1.23 pick. No blaming the Steelers for taking the RB that some had #2 on their draft board and that comes in with less speed than Parker but more of everything else. This includes healthy limbs. This was probably the toughest one to swallow for dynasty team owners. Take a top ten RB and now there’s no telling how much Parker gets used. And no major rush to get him back into the lineup. Fast Willie meet prototypical Mendenhall.

Chris Johnson (TEN) - This is maybe not that bad. Sure, it says that the Titans whiffed when they took Chris Henry in the second round last year but Lendale White can now return to what he does best - plow into the lone and offer the thunder to Johnson’s lightning. Two runners that are completely different but both will cut into what the other would do alone. Nice move for the Titans, not so much if you were banking on White this year.

Matt Forte (CHI) - Hey, it could be worse for Cedric Benson. At least the Bears waited until the second round before taking a runner that is effectively the same as Benson. The least this will do is offer a muddled backfield and lower numbers but then again, they were already among the lowest last year for Benson. Chances that Matt Forte hires a family friend as an agent and then holds out until September? Less than zero.

Ray Rice (BAL) - This may not be that bad since Willis McGahee actually ran well last year and the Ravens could always use a solid back-up but many people were high on Rice and feel that he has NFL quality skills. McGahee is safe… for now…

That’s arguably five or six veteran RB’s that are almost certainly looking at less work in 2008. And that means less points for your team. It only serves to make yet more teams lean towards tandem backfields. The great news is that there are a lot more running backs that had fantasy significance. The bad news is that there are even less with any difference making scoring for your team.

Tough to rely on any RB from year to year it seems. And it only gets worse.

Sniff… I love you LaDainian…

Last year had an obvious boon in big number quarterbacks - There were seven passers that topped 4000 passing yards. There were just five in 2006 but the biggest increase from last season came with passing touchdowns. In 2006, there were only 648 total touchdown passes thrown in the NFL. In 2007, that number shot up to 720 which does not come solely from Tom Brady’s NFL record 50 scores. It was a big passing year.

So how does that impact your fantasy draft this year? Obviously there will be a big three quarterbacks of interest - Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Tony Romo. But will that be unheard of? To expect three quarterbacks to be drafted early? You know, when there are actually some scrub running back left to draft instead?

Well last year was not quite the abberation as it may have seemed, only because it came on the heels of two straight seasons with low passing numbers and higher rushing numbers. Consider the total passing scores since 2002 when the NFL went to 32 teams:

2002 - 694
2003 - 654
2004 - 732
2005 - 648
2006 - 648
2007 - 720

Even considering the Brady record, 2007 still did not measure up overall to the passing numbers of 2004 when Daunte Culpepper threw for 4717 yards and 39 scores (and had 406 yards and two scores rushing). It was the year that Peyton Manning threw for 4557 yards and his one-time record 49 passing touchdowns.Donovan McNabb was hardly a slouch himself with 3875 passing yards and 31 touchdowns and he added three more scores and 221 yards via the run.

The next season, the average draft position was Manning (4th), Culpepper (9th) and McNabb (17th). Of course, then each underperformed compared to their draft position. Manning (3747 yds, 28 TDs) was best while McNabb (2506 yds, 16 TD) and Culpepper (1564 yds, 6 TD) both missed about half the season and underperformed while they played. And the NFL as a whole fell to a very low 648 total passing touchdowns which was exactly replicated in 2006 when our serious raiding of running backs actually paid off.

Now 2008 comes and you know that Brady is going to go early. The bigger question is to take the proven production of Peyton Manning or the one-year wonder of Tony Romo? Rest assured - your 2008 draft will be different than the last couple of years. The problem with really big passing seasons in the NFL is that they never sustain themselves the next year. There is nothing wrong per se with taking an earlier, low-risk quarterback but fantasy football loves to remember just last year.

And last year never happens again.

What a tremendous Super Bowl. Aside from those in the greater Boston area, the result of yesterday’s game had to be viewed as one of the best Super Bowls of all-time. Hands down. It was everything that we hoped for and nothing like we expected. America loves pulling for the underdog and there had never been a more clear cut case for it before. The Pats were undefeated and unbeatable. No team had brought them down - not one. And on Sunday the Pats had two weeks to prepare for their final stamp of invincibility while playing in ideal conditions against a team that they had already beaten barely a month prior. It was all a great set-up for Patriot fans who were ready to watch their team claim history in so many ways.

Yeah, but…

America loves the underdog. Perhaps that’s a strange quality for a country that has been sitting at the head of the “Big and Bad” table for the better part of a century now but we do. It’s a testament to the personality of our society that wants to believe anything is possible not matter how tough the odds. It’s ironic that the Patriots had become the juggernaut since their mascot had been the original underdog in our history. But anything is possible and suddenly we have to sift through nineteen weeks of Patriot praise to decide what remains true. More than anything, we have to get comfortable with how we view the New York Giants that have won the Super Bowl after turning into a new team starting in week 16.

Unfortunately for the Giants, the win cements the loss of defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. It should. The performance of the Giants defense was nothing short of awe-inspiring. While the MVP trophy was held aloft by Eli Manning, there is no refuting that it was the play of the entire defense that heralded not only the Super Bowl win but made possible reaching the game in the first place. Not to take anything away from Manning, but the defensive unit just throttled perhaps the best offense to ever take the field in NFL history.

And now we have to rethink Manning. After a month of playing like he truly is an elite quarterback, he no longer stands as Peyton’s goofy little brother who caves late in every season. Let’s be serious here - he just won a Super Bowl and did it with far less receivers than either Peyton or Tom Brady had to work with this year.

It was a tremendous way to conclude the 2007 NFL season. Instead of twiddling our thumbs for the next seven months listening to Pats fans refine their well-earned arrogance, we can still discuss the 2007 season and the Super Bowl at least until the NFL draft rolls around in April. Here’s some of the topics we have to consider -

- Were the Pats hurt by having too many aging veterans? Long season that ended in a game that needed fresh legs and the ability to hold up in Arizona heat.

- Why didn’t the Pats run more? Maroney was stuffed often, but he also had several nice runs.

- What will Randy Moss be like? He was rarely used in the playoffs and wasn’t a factor much in the biggest game of all.

- Is Steve Smith becoming a fantasy factor soon? The USC rookie certainly looked great on Sunday.

- Will the Pats weather this monumental set-back or will it play into the 2008 season?

- Can the Giants defense hold up after Spagnuolo is gone?

- When we draft our fantasy teams in August, is it possible to hear someone ask - “which Manning is that?”

Just a tremendous game, a wonderful ending to the season and above all, a shot of energy into the American psyche that still wants to believe.

Anything is possible.

No big surprises on Saturday… Yawn…

The Packers fell to a 14-0 deficit in a matter of only a few plays thanks to Ryan Grant developing a sudden case of butterfingers but after that surprise, the game proceeded without any real fanfare. Grant was unstoppable rushing for 201 yards and three scores and Brett Favre also threw for three touchdowns. The Packers offense looked every bit as good as it had at any time this year and should give Packer fans reason to believe that next Sunday is not the final game. Figure in the final 57 minutes of the game, the Packers outscored the Seahawks 42-20 and that did not come because of cheap touchdowns since the Seahawks had no interceptions and only one lost fumble. It was all about the Packers winning the game exactly as expected – Grant crushed them and Jennings catches touchdowns like it was just another day at practice.

The Patriots held on to win in the manner that has become common for them in the final weeks – play to a draw by halftime and then gradually get a lead that they can sit on. The Jaguars took away all chances for a long pass to Randy Moss who ended with only one catch for 14 yards but once Brady was given the short field, he completed 26 of 28 for 262 yards and three scores. His two incompletions were even catchable. Laurence Maroney ran very well with 122 yards on 22 carries and one score but Brady just sat back in the pocket the entire game and threw dump off passes over and over. The Pats defense was less than impressive but it doesn’t really matter when the offense can mount a scoring drive every time they touch the ball. The Patriots only punted once in the game and yet the same was true for the Jaguars. But Brady is just too dangerous when he has time. You can pick your poison here but you end up dead no matter what.

On Sunday - there were nothing but surprises.

What the hell? The Indianapolis Colts – healthier than they have been all season – cannot beat the Chargers who were playing without Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and for the most part Antonio Gates? What? WHAT?!?!

Shades of 2005 when the Colts lost to the Steelers in their first game out of the gate. Did the Colts feel confident with a 10-7 lead at halftime and all took a few bong hits before playing the third quarter? By the time it was over, the Colts had lost their most important game of the year, the one that they had been preparing for two weeks to play, and it was taken away by Billy Volek, Michael Turner and Vincent Jackson. If that was all it took, the Chargers are seriously overpaying their star players. Here’s a thought – Marvin Harrison is done. Here’s your watch, thanks for the memories. After waiting for almost the entire season to play, his contribution was two catches for 27 yards and one drive killing fumble that ended up as one of the perhaps 15 different ways the Colts gave this game away. Unbelievable.

The Cowboys had the #1 seed in the NFC which had never, ever lost in the Divisional Round for the last 17 years. Ah yes, setting new records all the time. The #1 offense in the NFC couldn’t come up with points when it needed it worst. Sure, Tony Romo became the $60 million man, so why wouldn’t he love the chance to get the ball with 1:50 left to play on the NYG 48-yard line? This is what he was born to do. This is exactly why you pay the big bucks instead of going with some scrub.

Anyway, it should have not come down to that but with a readymade way to start a personal legend, Romo flopped. It’s not as if the rest of the team did not contribute. Terry Glenn pulled his own version of Marvin Harrison though actually had three more yards than Harrison on his two catches. But all that should not have mattered when Plaxico Burress only had one catch for five yards. Manning only threw for 163 yards. Amani Toomer took time out from filling out his NFL retirement papers to kill the Cowboys with two scores that included a 52-yard run down the sideline and Dallas defenders did their version of flag football instead of tackling him. Toomer scored from 52 yards out. If that isn’t fate, what is?

Could it be that having a bye week is a bad thing? Does it make the home teams get somehow soft and in the case of the Cowboys and Colts, make a team look inexplicably flat? In both cases, it wasn’t so much the offense that was bad (though both teams could have done more to be sure). It was more about what the defense couldn’t do. And special teams. And penalties. And all those little elements to a game that don’t get nearly the press of a star quarterback or lofty season totals. But in the end, they matter the most.

The Super Bowl is going to be the Patriots and the Packers unless somehow both the Chargers and Giants can pull off absolute magic once again. The Chargers are suddenly decimated with injury and the Giants have been playing so far over their head for so long that they have forgotten that they really are not that good. There is no way that the Giants or the Chargers can win next week.

Just like there wasn’t last week.

If history serves, the Super Bowl will be played with the Packers facing the Patriots. Or will it be the Cowboys versus the Colts? The oddity is that in the last ten Conference Championships, there have been ten home teams and ten road teams win. In 1997, Green Bay beat the 49ers and the Broncos beat the Steelers to have two road teams advance to the Super Bowl. Since then, it has been one road, one home team that advances for the next eight years and then 2006 had the rare treat of both home teams winning to advance (CHI and IND).

As hard as teams all try to secure the #1 seed in order to play all their games at home, the reality is that it has hardly been a guarantee of a Super Bowl trip.

The AFC Championship game has been won by the home team only four of the last ten times. New England won three times but twice it was as the road team.

It may be easy to sit back and assume that the #1 seeds from each league advance - it did happen last year - but it is a rarity. Maybe homefield is not nearly the advantage that it seems. The Chargers lost to the Pats after getting an AFC bye last year. The Colts opened up their 2005 playoffs with a loss to the Steelers.

In 2004, all four home teams won in the divisional round - those byes helped them. However, the last two years has had TWO teams losing their first time in the playoffs after sitting out their bye week (2006 - BAL, SD; 2005 - IND, CHI).

The post-season is a start-over of sorts and it would seem that home field advantage would be paramount to winning. Here are the percentages from the last ten seasons:

Wildcard Round: Home 28 (70%), Road 12 (30%)
Divisional Round: Home 29 (73%), Road 11 (27%)
Conference Round: Home 10 (50%), Road (50%)

Sure, that shows that home field is a better thing in the first two rounds though realize that the Divisional Round had 11 instances of a team coming off a first round bye losing their first game. And by the final game that sends the conference championship to the Super Bowl, there is virtually no benefit of playing at home.

Week one was pretty standard with one road winner (JAX). This week we get to see if NE, IND, DAL and GB can repeat 2006 or fall back into the pattern of the previous eight seasons.

And to think how much those hometown fans paid for those conference championship tickets…