Including tonight's game, it's been nine contests since Tom Brady's tossed more than one TD. To put that in perspective, since his first full season in 2002, his longest such stretch was four games with either one or zero TD passes.
Tonight's beat down at the hands of the Chiefs is yet another example of Brady's seemingly precipitous decline. As recently as the 2013 preseason, most experts ranked him among the top six fantasy QBs. Today, he's not even playing like a top 20 QB.
For the first month of this season, I've encouraged people to hold onto Gronkowski, trade for Vereen, and remain patient with the legendary Brady. Doubts have crept in fairly frequently, but I've remained more bullish than bearish about the eventual turnaround of the Patriots' unusually anemic offense.
The concern now is that if this is truly the end for Brady (honestly, I don't think he'll be New England's Week 1 QB next year, though that might sound harsh and/or bizarre), then everyone on offense will take a hit. TD opportunities will drop. There will be more three-and-outs, meaning fewer chances to rack up yards. This will impact every player, and by extension, your fantasy team.
Brady, Gronk, Edelman, Vereen, and company will have a good game here and there in 2014. But I no longer expect a return to form. For fantasy purposes, it's safe to trade these guys to the highest bidders and look elsewhere for consistent production.
Tonight's beat down at the hands of the Chiefs is yet another example of Brady's seemingly precipitous decline. As recently as the 2013 preseason, most experts ranked him among the top six fantasy QBs. Today, he's not even playing like a top 20 QB.
For the first month of this season, I've encouraged people to hold onto Gronkowski, trade for Vereen, and remain patient with the legendary Brady. Doubts have crept in fairly frequently, but I've remained more bullish than bearish about the eventual turnaround of the Patriots' unusually anemic offense.
The concern now is that if this is truly the end for Brady (honestly, I don't think he'll be New England's Week 1 QB next year, though that might sound harsh and/or bizarre), then everyone on offense will take a hit. TD opportunities will drop. There will be more three-and-outs, meaning fewer chances to rack up yards. This will impact every player, and by extension, your fantasy team.
Brady, Gronk, Edelman, Vereen, and company will have a good game here and there in 2014. But I no longer expect a return to form. For fantasy purposes, it's safe to trade these guys to the highest bidders and look elsewhere for consistent production.