I recall a respected fantasy football mind shying away from Ben Roethlisberger this summer because Pittsburgh's new coach Mike Tomlin "was a defensive guy."

Throw that argument in the trash can, friends.

Head coaches in the NFL, at least the good ones, work from personnel to scheme, not the other way around.

Look around the league — Bill Belichick's Patriots have the league's most ridiculous offense; Mike Holmgren's run-heavy Seahawks offense is now a pass-heavy offense. Show me a successful professional head coach and I'll show you someone who's going to be adaptable.

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Make it four monster games in a row for Terrell Owens, and nine touchdowns in five weeks. He's on top of his game, no question about it, and yet, the time might be ideal to try to move him. We're still talking about a physical receiver who's played just two full seasons out of eight, and you should be able to name your price after his four-score undressing of Washington on Sunday. Even the pending game with the Jets on Thursday could come into your thinking here — sell your trading partner on the upside of spending the holidays with a little T.O.

Be clear on the message here — I'm not saying you should give Owens away or make a deal just to make a deal. But it's always a good idea to at least explore a trade when a name player has this type of performance, and you can bet a lot of Adrian Peterson backers wish they had gone down this path two weeks ago.

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If you can still get Earnest Graham for a mild cost, cut the check. He's clearly the main horse in the Tampa Bay offense, a runner with vision, hands, and surprising power, and the Bucs finish the year with a very cushy schedule against the run. Graham has a good chance to keep this job next year, even when Cadillac Williams returns to the mix.

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Devard Darling's big day in Baltimore (4 catches for 107 yards, touchdown) probably was a result of his scout-team work with Kyle Boller over anything else. I'm not going to chase these numbers, not with the tricky schedule the Ravens have to come. Everyone throws on the Browns, anyway — invite them to your back yard on Thursday and you'll have 400 yards passing and six TDs before the turkey is done.

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Is there any logical explanation why the Jets didn't use David Harris much in the first seven games? Tie that to the way Jonathan Vilma was miscast the last two years, the slow hook on Chad Pennington and the odd usage of Leon Washington and it makes you wonder why the Jets are so often behind the curve with their own personnel.

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Quick hits: If you have the Sunday Ticket, get to know the Red Zone Channel. I can't justly say how awesome that concept is on game day. ... Two months ago, LaMont Jordan was living large as the Raiders feature back. Now there's talk of him getting released if Michael Bush makes it to the active roster next week. ... In anything short of a 14-team league, I'd consider dropping Shaun Alexander right now. Mike Holmgren says he's not going to play Alexander until the back can get through a full week of practice, and the Seattle offense has done just fine without Alexander (mostly because of Matt Hasselbeck, but Maurice Morris has been solid, too). ... It's a good thing Belichick is such good friends with Dick Jauron. I thought the Patriots might, you know, try to run up the score or something. ... The Bengals face a bunch of weak rushing defenses to end the year, but I don't think anything can save Rudi Johnson. If anyone is going to finish the season strongly there, it's Kenny Watson. ... Daunte Culpepper has more left in the tank than most realize, but the Dolphins and Raiders have set him up to fail the last two seasons. I'd still take him in the right situation. ... It's not all Frank Gore's fault in San Francisco, but if you can't dial him up with confidence against the Rams (15 carries, 32 yards), when can you use him?

— Davis Ferris has been writing about fantasy sports for various newspapers and Web sites since 1992.