Four Downs: Brady's big boo boo

It might have been a week ago, it might have been a month ago, but for one person in every Fantasy league, Tom Brady was taken, likely with a first-round pick.

Less than one quarter into the regular season, he was gone. Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard came into the pocket on a blitz and dove low for Brady, bending his left knee awkwardly. Brady fell to the ground, clutched his knee and, according to Pollard, was screaming in pain. The two-time Super Bowl MVP was helped off the field where he gently walked into the locker room, and wasn't seen again.

Do you think Matt Cassel will be a hot pickup this week? (AP)

NFL seasons, and thus Fantasy seasons, can really change this quickly.

Three reports, including one from CBSSports.com national columnist Mike Freeman, surfaced Sunday night saying that Brady had a serious knee injury, likely involving ligament damage. While no one wants to even speculate on how long Brady will be sidelined for, everyone is expecting the worst: Out for the season.

After years of covering the league, we know that the Patriots detest revealing injury information. In fact, unless Brady is unequivocally out for the season, they won't say anything they don't have to.

Enter Matt Cassel. The Patriots backup quarterback was a candidate to be cut no less than 10 days ago following a subpar preseason in which he took the overwhelming majority of the quarterback reps. Now, he's in the "Brady" position -- in more ways than one. Like Brady did seven years ago, Cassel will go under center while the starter is sidelined.

And, he's not going to be bad at all.

Let's start with the basics: Cassel is part of a very solid offense. They've got a great offensive line and extremely capable receivers in Randy Moss and Wes Welker. They've got a nice corps of running backs, each one as reliable to pound out strong yards. The Patriots tirelessly game plan every week for their opponents and come up winners more often than not. And they have one of the most friendly schedules this season.

What about Cassel's skills? Well, if you're judging by his Week 1 game against a decent defense in the Chiefs, you could say that he's not only capable, but also expected to lead the charge. The Patriots' game plan might have changed slightly with Cassel under center as they called 20 run plays after Cassel came into the game. They exceeded that mark in pass calls with 21 (Cassel threw 18 times and scrambled three times; he kneeled once). Even on their final drive, with a four-point lead, they called four running plays and four pass plays.

"I thought he handled the team well and made some accurate throws," head coach Bill Belichick said of his new starting quarterback. "I thought overall, he threw the ball pretty well. He managed the team well. We didn't have a lot of misaligned plays and miscommunications. There is a lot of room for improvement but I thought he stepped in and did a good job."

So here's the deal: If you own Brady, be prepared to part ways with him, but don't pull the trigger until there's an official word -- just in case. Instead, sacrifice someone else on your roster and put in a waiver claim for Cassel. Remember, a quarterback throwing to Randy Moss is better than a quarterback who went undrafted.

What about the rest of the Patriots' players? Dial expectations down a notch, but that's it. Moss remains a must-start, especially after seeing Cassel target him four times and connect three times. Welker was also targeted five times by Cassel and should continue to be a short-area target. Be careful with any other receiver in New England, though Benjamin Watson might turn into a regular target once he gets healthy.

Also expect the Patriots to become a little more balanced to take some pressure off of Cassel. Does that mean more Laurence Maroney? Sure, but if there's one thing that's clear, it's that the Patriots aren't going to let Maroney do all the heavy lifting as Sammy Morris had just as many carries and a red-zone touchdown run. They'll probably rotate for the foreseeable future, making them both No. 3 Fantasy running backs and aggravating to own.

Finally, keep this in mind when thinking about the Patriots' offense: With Brady under center, they had the most prolific passing game the league had ever seen last season. Cassel might be good, but he's not Brady.

Of course, we said the same thing about Brady when Drew Bledsoe got hurt in 2001.

McNabb was amazing. Now trade him.

In one of the stories we penned this week, we suggested that Donovan McNabb might have his best game of the season in the Eagles' home opener against the defensively inept Rams.

Might be the understatement of the week.

With two starting receivers out, McNabb found a way to not only throw three touchdowns and for 361 yards, but also turn a rookie wide out and two former undrafted players into 100-yard receivers in the same game.

Three 100-yard receivers. When's the last time you saw that?

And when was the last time we saw McNabb have such a studly performance? That question is easier to answer: Last year vs. Detroit, when he had 381 yards passing and four touchdowns.

Here's some food for thought: McNabb had a monster game in Week 1, the same week Brady went down with a major knee injury. Perhaps now is a time for McNabb and Brady owners to come together on a deal.

For McNabb owners, it's a no-brainer. Cashing in on what looks like the Eagles' easiest matchup of the year in exchange for a quality player makes a ton of sense assuming that McNabb's Fantasy owners have a good backup that could start (most of them should). And Brady owners ... well, they need a lot of help at quarterback now.

McNabb has an excellent rookie wideout in DeSean Jackson, and the corps will get deeper when Kevin Curtis and Reggie Brown get healthy and join Hank Baskett and Greg Lewis. Plus, McNabb gets a ton of cheap yardage when he throws to Brian Westbrook.

Parker's day slightly better than Brady's

When anyone asked us about Willie Parker this offseason, we said he was a yardage machine not expected to produce many touchdowns, though we did concede he'd top the two he scored in 2007.

Well, he did that already. In one game.

Parker overmatched the Texans in the Steelers' home opener with a 25-carry, 138-yard performance with three rushing touchdowns, all scored from inside the Texans 20-yard line.

"People were wondering, maybe even some of his teammates, how he was going to come back from a leg injury like that," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "It was fun to watch Willie Parker be Willie Parker."

As for that rookie who was supposed to be the Steelers' goal-line back, Rashard Mendenhall got all of his 10 carries in the second half, most in the fourth quarter when the game was pretty much over.

Parker was one of those No. 3 running backs at draft time that had the upside to play as a No. 1. For one week, it certainly looks like he'll be able to be counted on week in and week out.

And get him ready for Week 2 when he plays at the Browns, who let Marion Barber and Felix Jones run for 142 yards and three touchdowns this week.

And when 138 yards and three touchdowns isn't enough ...

Consider the case of Michael Turner. For his entire career, he had been an understudy to LaDainian Tomlinson in San Diego. At the first chance he gets, he bolts from under LT's shadow for a starting job in Atlanta. The Falcons, unlike the Chargers, were believed to be potentially the worst offense in the league this season, especially with a rookie left tackle and rookie quarterback.

Instead, Turner turned logic on its rear. Against a Lions defense that apparently didn't get the memo about Turner signing with the Falcons, Atlanta's prized rusher churned for 220 yards on 22 carries -- an average of 10 yards a clip -- with two touchdowns.

Is this the result of Turner being an amazing running back, or the Lions' run defense being absolutely awful? Probably both, because not only did Turner have a fantastic game -- and has a history of long runs -- but teammate Jerious Norwood had 93 rush yards and a rushing touchdown to go with Turner's huge day.

I doubt Turner will have another 220-yard rushing game -- maybe he's a guy to consider dealing -- but he should have a productive season. Even if he can't get 10 yards per carry, he should still give some good efforts as the obvious centerpiece of the Falcons offense.

As for the Lions, they play the Packers in Week 2. Ryan Grant owners, get ready.

And wow, not one mention of that new Jet quarterback.

What are your four downs from this week? See anything that jumped off the screen? Let us know -- email us at dmfantasyfootball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Four Downs in the subject field. Include your full name, hometown and state.