24 Hours 'Til Sunday — Andy Richardson

Week 1 is in the books, and those of us who passed up Drew Brees late in the first round are kicking ourselves. Don't worry though, there's lots of time to make the moves to make you one of the other playoff teams that loses in the playoffs to the guy who drafted Brees. On to week 2!

Texans at Titans: Steve Slaton, maybe not as good of a second-round pick as he seemed on draft day. Of course, there will be better days than facing the Jets and Titans, but this is a week I'm benching the guy for somebody like Leon Washington. Andre Johnson, however, should bounce back -- Houston has to move the ball somehow, and Johnson won't be covered by Darrelle Revis. Kevin Walter is questionable, I wouldn't use him. Love Chris Johnson this week. Maybe Kerry Collins will look his way more often in the passing game than he did at Pittsburgh.

Saints at Eagles: If anyone can cool off Brees, this might be the defense to do it. i wouldn't bet against Brees, but it's a tough matchup. I wouldn't go near Pierre Thomas, and would only consider Mike Bell if Thomas is ruled out Sunday morning. Very poor matchup for running backs anyway. I'm interested to see if playing an actual defense means the Saints direct their passing game through their No. 1 wideout, Marques Colston, or continue to spread it around so that all their receivers have similar value. For the Eagles, I want nothing to do with anyone but Brian Westbrook and Brent Celek -- short passes should be the rule of the day, with either Kevin Kolb in or McNabb gutting it out with a broken rib. I suppose I'll start DeSean Jackson in one of the leagues where I have no choice; drafted Anthony Gonzalez and Laveranues Coles, for example.

Cardinals at Jaguars: Kurt Warner didn't look good last week. I was impressed enough by Jacksonville against Indy that I don't know that he'll look good this week, either. Doesn't mean I'll avoid Larry Fitzgerald, obviously, but I'm not expecting a wild shootout. I was also impressed by Arizona's defense in week 1. Solid pass rush and really stuffed Frank Gore. Fitzgerald and Maurice Jones-Drew are the only guys I'd use this week. Torry Holt gets some consideration because of the way he used to rip Arizona's defense back in the day.

Raiders at Kansas City: Who lost a tougher game last week: Raiders, Bills or Bengals? A better question might be, Why is it always the same teams who suffer these heartbreaking losses? The answer, of course, is that they're losing teams and that's what losing teams do. They let better teams make the plays at the end to win. Actually, the Bengals game is a bad example, 'cause that was just dumb, blind luck, plus the Broncos are losers right now too. Anywho, I like the running games in this one: Darren McFadden and Larry Johnson primarily, Michael Bush perhaps as a desperation play. Presumably Matt Cassel will play. I don't think he'll do much this week if he does.

Bengals at Packers: This is my suicide pool pick this week, just because I don't see the Packers losing until they face a good team on the road. They blew a lot of home games to bad teams a year ago, but their defense is better now. I'm wary of Cedric Benson, I like Chad Ochocinco, would consider Carson Palmer, and like all the Packers' key offensive starters this week. I don't put any stock in the Bengals doing a nice job on the Broncos offense. Green Bay will be fine.

Vikings at Lions: The other candidate for a suicide pool pick, but I avoided the Vikings because 1, I hate picking road teams, and 2, I remember the Lions giving the Vikings trouble last year even though the gap between the teams was just as pronounced. I still expect the Vikings to win in a blowout and Adrian Peterson to rush for 150 minimum, and I'm even starting Chester Taylor in one league, but I still don't want to bet it. No injuries of note here.

Rams at Washington: And yet another decent suicide pool choice, or at least it would be if this weren't the exact game that knocked me out of the pool a year ago. Fool me once.... Fantasy-wise, I'm as worried as anyone about Steven Jackson, but I'm giving him another shot this week, just because he's Steven Jackson. I'd be OK using Clinton Portis and even Santana Moss this week, as well.

Patriots at Jets: One of the more interesting games of the week. Jets and Pats fans around here are treating it like it's a huge game, but c'mon, it's week 2, and they'll play again later in the year. I believe the Jets defense will give New England's offense some problems, and I believe New England will have some tricks for Mark Sanchez. I sort of think Thomas Jones and Leon Washington will be good here, especially with Jerod Mayo out. Like Dustin Keller too. Won't go near a Patriots running back, any of them. Obviously if you have Brady, Welker and Moss, they're starting. Welker's "questionable," but he's probably fine.

Panthers at Falcons: So I've got Steve Smith in every league. And I'll start him again this week. Another Jake Delhomme meltdown and I'll worry, but not until that happens. No injuries of note; Jonathan Stewart didn't practice fully this week, but he'll be there, I suspect, to annoy those who drafted DeAngelo Williams. Big game coming for Michael Turner, I think. Carolina's defense has a lot of problems right now.

Buccaneers at Bills: The Bucs will run the ball. The Bills will do whatever they want. I'd pretty much go ahead and start Fred Jackson, Terrell Owens, Lee Evans, and maybe even Trent Edwards. For the Bucs, it sounds like Antonio Bryant probably won't play. Don't use him. I'd probably take the risk on Cadillac or Derrick Ward, but it's a big risk -- the Bucs could also use Earnest Graham: they could run for almost 200 yards with no one back getting more than 75. Ugly situation, like any three-headed running back committee, but even moreso when no one has a defined role.

Seahawks at 49ers: No Deion Branch, most likely, not that anyone would start the guy. T.J. Houshmandzadeh, in contrast, practiced Friday and is expected to play -- although I'll be checking to confirm Sunday morning. I liked what I saw of the 49ers defense last week, so I won't be using any Seahawks (the few that I have), aside from John Carlson, who seems headed for a big year. I think Gore will have a big game, and that Shaun Hill can't possibly be starting here all year long. And that Michael Crabtree is really going to regret all this one day -- maybe he already does. He won't be drafted higher next year if he actually sits out the season.

Ravens at Chargers: No Tomlinson, which at least eliminates the question of whether to bench him from the minds of those who drafted him. Darren Sproles might not run on the Ravens, but he's worth some consideration as a pass catcher this week. I'm a believer in the Ravens, and not just because I'm an unabashed Ray Rice fan -- do you think they could let the guy score his first NFL touchdown this week? Please?

Steelers at Bears: A good game here. Somebody in my league just dropped the Bears defense. I know Urlacher's done for the year, but I'm not just writing them off. They'll miss him, but it's still a tough group. Tough enough to sack Roethlisberger and stuff Willie Parker, anyway. I've got to think Jay Cutler's gonna bounce back this week, even against this defense. Looking forward to this one. I like the passing games more than the running ones.

Browns at Broncos: I briefly considered the Broncos as a suicide pool pick. The Browns can't seem to score offensive touchdowns, so how are they going to win? Then again, maybe the Broncos used up their luck last week. I have to say, I really want no part of the offensive players from either team in this game, Denver because of the way they're using them, Cleveland's because they're the Browns. Still, I'd give Jamal Lewis some consideration if I actually owned the guy anywhere.

Giants at Cowboys: Another good Sunday night game. Word is the Cowboys are opening a new Stadium or somesuch, it's only been promoted all over the place, including on the freaking Today show on Friday -- of course, it's NBC's game. Big deal. No injuries of note, the starters are fine. I don't like the Cowboys' running game here. I do like Romo, Witten, Roy Williams -- it's true, even though I've been down on the guy -- and of course the Giants' running game. Because it's really good.

Colts at Dolphins:This could be a better game than a lot of people -- like the ones in my suicide pool who picked the Colts -- seem to think. Miami has a good defense. The Colts do not right now. And also, the Dolphins are sort of opening a new stadium, a new name anyway, Land Shark Stadium. It has something to do with Jimmy Buffett. honestly I started reading about the details and didn't care anymore, but there's a beer called Land Shark and of course the old Chevy Chase skit on Saturday Night Live. As for the game, well, Anthony Gonzalez is out. Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie will kind of share the role, and one of them will be the hot waiver pickup next week, so you can probably consider grabbing one now and hope you guess right. What the hey. I'm interested to see if Miami's defense, which is good, causes problems for Peyton Manning. And if there's some kind of mascot skit involving a shark chasing a dolphin or somesuch. Because there should be.

Enjoy the games.

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