By Ted Cahill

The Brett Favre win in Green Bay news cycle was awfully short as Favre news cycles go.

Just two days later a pair of wide receivers had easily eclipsed the gray beard. First Michael Crabtree signed with San Francisco and will likely be active by Oct. 25. Then the Browns traded Braylon Edwards, the most talented player on their roster to the Jets.

Reasons abound about why Edwards was traded. He didn’t fit in with coach Eric Mangini’s philosophy, Clevelanders never warmed up to the Michigan grad, he simply dropped too many passes, LeBron forced a trade after Edwards punched one of his boys.

I am here to tell you this is all hearsay and rumors. The real reason Edwards got traded? After hitting a home run during batting practice at Progressive Field this year, he wanted to go to the Yankees and see how many he could hit in 162 games at the launching pad in the Bronx.

As if that nugget weren’t enough, we’ll try and get you ready for week five in the NFL. The usual rules apply here. I’m not going to tell you to start Edwards’ fellow alum Tom Brady and sit Chad Henne, his old quarterback in the Big House. I’ll trust you can take care of those on your own.

Start

Any healthy Cowboy at Kansas City
The Cowboys draw the lucky assignment of the Chiefs this week. Kansas City is one of the more pitiful teams, especially on defense in the league. Feel confident running Tashard Choice, the Dallas defense and Jason Witten out there. Even if Tony Romo doesn’t know it’s fourth down, he should be fine.

Rashard Mendenhall, Steelers at Detroit
With Willie Parker on the shelf last week with turf toe, Mendenhall reminded everyone why the Steelers took him in the first round. He is that talented and Pittsburgh probably won’t risk Parker this week unless he’s 100 percent.

Matt Schaub, Texans at Arizona
The Cardinals are giving up the third most passing yards in the league. That’s great news for Schaub, who has had to shoulder more of the burden than expected due to Steve Slaton’s slow start. Arizona has given up 100 yards and a touchdown to a wide receiver two weeks in a row. Andre Johnson should make that three.

Chad Ocho Cinco, Bengals at Baltimore
Baltimore has as stout a run defense as you’ll find in the NFL. With that in mind, Carson Palmer will be dropping back a lot Sunday. The artist formerly known as Chad Johnson will get the majority of the targets this week and will get his yards.

Sit

Kevin Smith, Lions vs. Pittsburgh
Smith isn’t fully healthy and this is not the week to be dinged up before the game. Pittsburgh has been the hardest defense to score fantasy points against and is giving up 3.6 yards per carry.

Roddy White, Falcons at San Francisco
White hasn’t been quite as good this year as last and this week he matches up with Nate Clements, one of the elite shutdown corners in the league. Atlanta is likely to use Michael Turner more this week, meaning fewer chances for the Falcons’ top receiver.

Kyle Orton, Broncos vs. New England
Denver’s strong running game was allowed Orton to sit back and throw only 29.2 passes per game. It won’t be easy going for anyone in a Broncos’ uniform this week. Denver also will likely try to run the ball more and keep Tom Brady off the field.

Tennessee Defense vs. Indianapolis
The Titans have already given up 300 yards though the air three times this year. Now with Peyton Manning in town, 400 seems within reach. Tennessee just isn’t generating the pass rush needed to keep Manning off his game.

Matchup to Watch: Ronnie Brown vs. Bart Scott
Without Chad Pennington, Miami’s running backs have been forced to step up. They now face one of their toughest tests against the rejuvenated Jets defense. New York allows more than four yards per carry, but will that be the case when they stack the box against Brown?