Every girl's Fantasy

Well, the first Sunday of the 2008-09 NFL season did not disappoint. Lots of action, excitement, upsets and (unfortunately) injuries. I’m not a New England fan, but I sure hate that Tom Brady went down that way and is apparently done for the season. After his record-breaking season last year, I finally bought into him being one of the league’s all-time bests and looked forward to watching him chase last year’s numbers.

But there were plenty of great games and exciting moments. That Roscoe Parrish punt return for a score was something else, and it was good to see Brett Favre start his Jet career off with a win. I also have a soft spot for New Orleans, so I was happy to see them pull out the victory.

And some big defenses returned to old form. Chicago and Baltimore both managed to shut down typically very effective offenses.

Atlanta, Buffalo and Philadelphia were all surprisingly impressive in routs of their opponents. Granted, their competition left much to be desired, but these teams have struggled in recent years to win period, let alone to blow their opponent out of the water. I really find myself pulling for all three, especially Atlanta, where newcomers Michael Turner and Matt Ryan might be able to turn things around and make the city forget all about that Vick fellow.

I’m looking pretty good for wins in both my leagues (one matchup was against Kevin, and I’m resisting the urge to trash talk my dear hubby). Lucky for me I didn’t face him in the other league we’re in together--Kevin raked up an impressive 155.7 points on the backs of such week-one studs as Donovan McNabb, Marion Barber, Michael Turner and Brian Westbrook. I sure don’t look forward to facing Kevin later in the season in that league.

Players I wish I had on either of my fantasy rosters:

Donovan McNabb
Philip Rivers
Michael Turner
Willie Parker
Chris Johnson
Andre Johnson
Lee Evans
Dante Rosario
Anthony Fasano
Bo Scaife

All of these guys were undervalued in fantasy drafts this year (or went undrafted) and, IMHO, were not one-week, week-one flukes.

Players I need to get off my rosters, and fast:

Marc Bulger
Derrick Mason
Torry Holt (though I need him to have one big game so I can hopefully trade him, hoping the name itself still carries enough weight to make him appealing to some other owner)

There are a few more players I’m a little disappointed in and worried about (read—T.J. Houshmandzadeh), but I’ll hold on to them hoping they rebound in the next week or two.

All in all, it was a great start to the fantasy football season, and I’m already looking forward to next Sunday.