First Response: Welker's injury a long-term issue

For some of us, Week 17 is when Fantasy league titles are awarded. For others, Week 17 means nothing. For some NFL teams, Week 17 is when division titles and playoff berths are awarded. For others, Week 17 means nothing.

But there's nothing worse than a Week 17 injury. Just ask Wes Welker.

The Patriots' sure-handed receiver made his first catch of the afternoon at Houston on Sunday, planted his left foot and tried to make a cut before falling to the ground. As Bernard Pollard (he of Tom Brady knee-crushing fame) dove past missing the tackle, Welker clutched his left knee and writhed in pain on the ground. He was helped to the sidelines, where he buried his face in a towel, then covered his head in a towel as he was carted to the locker room.

Game over. Season over. Questions abound on his status for the 2010 campaign. This loss hurts everyone: Welker. The Patriots. Welker's Fantasy owners in Week 17. Welker's prospective Fantasy owners in 2010.

Obviously Welker's speed could be compromised by this injury. Sure, his hands are his best weapons, but his incredible route running is what has gotten him open for over 110 catches in each of his three years with the Patriots, a streak in a semblance of jeopardy now.

Brady will miss him in the playoffs as a short-area receiver, though it seems pretty clear that the Patriots' first-team offense saw more playing time so Brady and Julian Edelman could build some chemistry heading into next week. Edelman finished with 10 catches for 104 yards, both career highs, and caught six of those passes from Brady, who targeted him eight times. Brady should be OK with him as his short-area guy come the playoffs.

That's the slippery slope of playing football in Week 17. As it turned out, the Patriots lost the game even with Brady throwing 26 passes. The Patriots could have just as easily rested their starters and kept Welker healthy for the playoffs and still lost. But playing to win comes with a price, just as it does any other week of the season. Only Fantasy owners in dynasty/keeper leagues know whether or not they'll have Welker on their teams next season. Everyone else won't know until their drafts months from now. But he's obviously an injury-risk much like his quarterback, Brady, was entering this season. But this is worse than Brady, who had nearly a calendar year to recover -- torn knee ligaments typically take nine months to come back from and Welker got hurt in early January. He'll be lucky to be close to 100 percent recovered and rehabbed by September, much less be in game shape. Those who take him in 2010 drafts might not get the best out of him until Week 4 or 5, which will certainly hurt his draft stock. And that's if his rehab and recovery goes as well as Brady's did last offseason.

Let's take a look around at the rest of the Week 17 action.

Start of the Week result: Three touchdowns for Ben Roethlisberger against the Dolphins made him a solid Fantasy passer this week. And even though he fumbled the ball away once, his 220 passing yards and extra push on the ground (17 rush yards) were a help. Roethlisberger had the second-best passing touchdown output of his career this season with 26 and a career-best 4,328 passing yards. His yardage numbers have trended upward over his last four years, and with a terrific trio of wideouts to go with an improved tight end and a good run game to keep defenses honest, Roethlisberger has the makings of a safe No. 1 Fantasy passer in drafts this summer.

Sit of the Week result: Chad Ochocinco got off to a rough start against the Jets and cornerback Darrelle Revis on Sunday night, going catchless in his first 30 minutes of play with a drop. With the winds howling and Revis shadowing him, it seems tough for Ochocinco to have his way. We'll know more come Monday.

Insane stat line of the day: Believe it: Brett Favre saved his best work for Week 17 in December at home against the Giants, throwing for 316 yards and four touchdowns in just under 40 minutes of total game clock. Really a masterful effort against a New York secondary that couldn't wait for the season to end. So much for Adrian Peterson leading the way for the Vikings into the postseason.

Out-of-nowhere stat line of the day: We knew the Ravens would run all over the Raiders, but we didn't think Willis McGahee would dwarf Ray Rice's stats in the last game of the season. McGahee rounded out his season with three touchdowns and 167 rush yards on 16 carries. McGahee had six total touchdowns in his first four games and five in his last four. In between: Two touchdowns. The Ravens are going to have to take a long hard look at keeping him on their roster in 2010 even if his contract totals are expensive.

Guy we were way right about: As much as my colleague Jamey Eisenberg wants me to impress you with his incredibly gutsy call on Jaguars tight end Zach Miller (not the Raiders' Zach Miller, mind you), I'd rather alert you to one of our gutsiest picks of the year: Devin Aromashodu of the Bears. Playing with a loose cannon at quarterback and sharing the field with another speedy Devin (that would be Devin Hester), Aromashodu caught five passes for 46 yards and a pair of touchdowns against the Lions on Sunday. Aromashodu ends his season with four touchdowns in four games and has to be penciled in by the Bears to start next season. We're pretty sure Jay Cutler would be fine with that.

Guy we were way wrong about: Let's call this "Guys" instead of "Guy" and give it to anyone in a Packers uniform. We knew they had a good chance to see these Cardinals again and figured that they'd take the opportunity to rest their starters and not divulge any physical traits of what they do to a fellow playoff-bound team. We were incorrect -- the Packers came at the Cardinals, who opted to rest many of their veteran starters, and steamrolled them. Ryan Grant had a touchdown, Jermichael Finley had another and Aaron Rodgers threw for one and ran for another. Tack on a defensive touchdown by the Packers and you had a thorough message sent to the Cardinals a week in advance of their playoff matchup. It would be impressive if they did it again next week.

Overachieving defense of the week: Aside from yielding a couple of touchdowns to Knowshon Moreno, you've got to love the effort Kansas City's unit put up. They intercepted Kyle Orton three times -- two for Derrick Johnson touchdowns -- and racked up a couple of sacks to boot. And for a defense that's struggled against the run to hold Moreno & Co. to 84 rush yards is also very impressive. Nice end to the season for them.

Underachieving defense of the week: The Eagles didn't get the memo that their Week 17 showdown with the Cowboys was for the NFC East title, and for them a bye week. Philly's typically aggressive defense was tame with a pair of sacks and an early interception of Tony Romo. Meanwhile, Dallas had a pair of 91-yard rushers and three touchdowns, two by Romo. Not a good omen for them when you consider they will play the Cowboys again in Dallas in the Wild Card Game next week.

Early breakouts and sleepers for 2010 drafts:

Devin Aromashodu, wide receiver, Chicago
Josh Freeman, quarterback, Tampa Bay
Malcom Floyd, wide receiver, San Diego
Brandon Gibson, wide receiver, St. Louis
Chad Henne, quarterback, Miami
Fred Jackson, running back, Buffalo
Matt Moore, quarterback, Carolina
Hakeem Nicks, wide receiver, N.Y. Giants
Brandon Pettigrew, tight end, Detroit
Chaz Schilens, wide receiver, Oakland

Injury alerts for 2010:

Ahmad Bradshaw, N.Y. Giants, ankle/foot
Ronnie Brown, Miami, foot
Marc Bulger, St. Louis, knee
Chris Cooley, Washington, ankle
Owen Daniels, Houston, knee
James Davis, Cleveland, shoulder
Anthony Gonzalez, Indianapolis, knee
Brandon Jacobs, N.Y. Giants, knee
Brandon Pettigrew, Detroit, knee
Clinton Portis, Washington, head
Laurent Robinson, St. Louis, ankle, leg
Steve Slaton, Houston, neck
Kevin Smith, Detroit, knee
Steve Smith, Carolina, arm
Matthew Stafford, Detroit, shoulder/knee
Michael Turner, Atlanta, ankle
Wes Welker, New England, knee

The last word:

Fantasy Football might be stressful at times, and for the Fantasy owners who came up short in Week 17 in their quest for a championship, Fantasy Football is the worst thing in the world.

But it's also fun. It's a great way to be involved with the NFL and stay in the loop with your favorite players and teams.

We understand that passion fully, which is why we never stop looking at the big picture for Fantasy Football.

Beginning this week, we'll begin an experts' mock draft for the 2010 season and start going over the good and the bad from the 2009 campaign. We'll also begin taking a long look at the incoming, and impressive, crop of rookies that will impact Fantasy play next year. Pretty soon, we'll have full rankings for next year as well as projections to go with them.

But just in case you're not tired of playing Fantasy Football, we've got one last league for you: Play with our experts and other fans in our Playoff Challenge league and have a chance to beat our pros and end the 2009 season with a big, big victory.

Either way, there's never a time to stop coming by CBSSports.com to get your Fantasy Football fix. Many of our loyal year-round readers have claimed Fantasy titles just by dissecting the league right alongside us. You can attain that goal in 2010 too. Just like anything else, it takes a little work and perseverance. We're here to help and we're here to stay on top of the NFL every single day. Be a part of it.

What stood out to you this week? How did your Fantasy teams do? Tell us via Twitter @daverichard. Or drop us a line and tell us about it at dmfantasyfootball@cbs.com. Be sure to put Attn: Week 17 in the subject field. Please include your full name, hometown and state and we'll respond to as many as e-mails we can.