NFL Weekly

Tony Romo: We found out yesterday that Romo will miss up to 4 works with a broken pinky. Definitely not good news for the Dallas Cowboys, who are in the toughest division in football and can't afford to give up any games. Their upcoming schedule the next four weeks is at St. Louis, Tampa Bay, at NY Giants, and then a bye. They definitely should be able to take care of St. Louis and Tampa Bay at home is also a winnable game, but it will be tough for them to take out the Giants on the road. Seeing that is a divisional game, then that could be a key game for the division title. One thing I worry about now that Brad Johnson is the QB is the poor pass blocking the Cowboys offense line has shown the last few weeks. Romo is a lot more mobile than Brad Johnson, so he is able to deal with the pressure a little better than I think Johnson will be able to. The Cowboys are going to have to run the ball more if they want to win without Romo, especially against the Giants, who should have field day pass rushing Johnson against the weak Dallas pass blocking. It will also be interesting to see how Johnson handles the whole T.O. dynamic and in some ways how T.O. handles not having Romo as his QB. If he doesn't get the ball and Dallas starts to lose, then it could be a long four weeks in Dallas without Romo. Dallas did catch a break though with the Redskins losing to the St. Louis Rams and the Giants losing to the Browns. There is no excuse for the Redskins to lose to the Rams at home, but they did and instead of 5-1 they are now 4-2 just like the Cowboys. The Giants loss was also huge and that puts them at 4-1 and only a half game ahead of the Cowboys and Redskins.

Atlanta Falcons: Man, how 'bout those Falcons? The Falcons moved to 4-2 after defeating the Bears on a FG with time running out. I have to admit that I have been impressed with the Falcons so far this season, especially with rookie QB Matt Ryan. Ryan has been solid this season and was even able to lead the Falcons into Green Bay and beat the Packers in a game that I thought they had no chance to win. On the season, Ryan has thrown for 1,164 yards, completing a respectable 57.8% of his passes, while throwing for 5 touchdowns and just 3 interceptions. Ryan is certainly exceding expectations in his rookie season, but he also has a strong cast around him. Ryan has the benefit of throwing to one of the best young WR in the NFL in Roddy White. Those two have hooked up 35 times for 566 yards and 3 TDs. The Falcons also have a strong running game with Michael Turner and Jerious Norwood combining to help the Falcons average 163 yards per game on the ground, which is second in the NFL. With a solid running game and a QB who's only be sacked 7 times, the Atlanta offensive line is certainly earning their paychecks this season. The Falcons are off this week before heading to Philly and then Oakland.

Other NFL News:

- The Chiefs will continue to try and trade TE Tony Gonzalez, but only if the price is right. The Chiefs are horrible right now and clearly in a rebuilding stage, so they will be looking to pick up some extra draft picks by trading Gonzalez.

- CB Terrence Newman missed Sunday's game against Arizona and will be out at least another 3 weeks after having surgey for a sports hernia.

- Looks like Seattle QB Matt Hasselback will miss at least another week with a bulging disk in his back. The Seahawks head to Tampa Bay this week and will have Charlie Frye starting at QB once again. I think fantasy football owners who have Tampa bay's defense will be more than happy to hear that news. Looks like this is going to be a long season for the Seahawks.

- The Redskins might sign RB Shaun Alexander as their backup to Clinton Portis, because Ladell Betts has a knee injury that might keep him out a few weeks. Interesting to see if Alexander has anything left in the tank after his disappointing season last year.

Fantasy Stars of the Week:

Marion Barber: 128 yards rushing, 45 yards receiving, 1 TD

Correll Buckhalter: 85 yards rushing, 93 yards receiving, 1 TD

Clinton Portis: 129 yards rushing, 2 TDs

Maurice Jones-Drew: 125 yards rushing, 23 yards receiving, 2 TDs

Thomas Jones: 65 yards rushing, 13 yards receiving, 3 TDs

Drew Brees: 320 yards passing, 3 TDs

Fantasy Waiver Wire Pickups of the Week:

Matt Ryan, QB, Falcons: 301 yards passing, 1 TD

Kyle Orton, QB, Bears: 286 yards passing, 1 TD

Chad Pennington, QB, Dolphins: 284 yards passing, 2 TDs

More: NFL & NFL Weekly