Fantasy player 1: "Man, I picked up Tony Romo, Miles Austin AND Sydney Rice. Yeah, I know Rice is hurt, but he'll be fine come Week 1. I'm gonna roast you punks this season."

    Fantasy player 2: "Before you start talking too much trash, Hoss, check out Week 4. Dallas and Minnesota are both on a bye."

    Fantasy player 1: "DAMMIT!"

    While they're not quite as irritating as running back by committee, bye weeks are still very annoying, to say the least. You craft what you think is a great Fantasy squad, only to realize you might as well forfeit Week 6 because half your team is taking the week off. But if you spend too much time obsessing on byes during your draft, your chances at a title will suffer. Plus, your buddies will want to kick you out of the league because it takes 15 minutes for you to make a pick.

    All is not lost, though. Even if you face bye week chaos, you can still weather the storm if you take advantage of good matchups taking place that week. Through a combination of deft later round selections and careful perusal of the free agent wire, you can find a way to make the best of a very frustrating situation.

Week 4
BYE: Dallas, Kansas City, Minnesota, Tampa Bay
    A slew of Cowboy and Viking owners will be hurting, more than likely, but Jamaal Charles owners won't be happy either, with Kansas City taking a week off. If you're relying on any Buccaneer as a starter, bye weeks are the least of your problems.

    This could be a good week to have Carson Palmer or even Matt Hasselbeck in your back pocket. The Bengals play at Cleveland, which ranked No. 29 against the pass in 2009. The Seahawks travel to St. Louis to take on a pass D that, like the Browns, relinquished 22 TDs through the air. Or, if you were astute enough to pick up the Lions' Matthew Stafford, you could plug him in against the Packers, who gave up 29 TDs through the air last season. If you have Tony Romo and are able to snag Stafford as well, you are looking great at quarterback. If Stafford puts up the huge numbers he's capable of against Green Bay, he'd immediately be great trade bait that could shore up weaknesses in other areas of your roster.

    Some huge talent at running back will be unavailable in Adrian Peterson, Felix Jones, Marion Barber and the aforementioned Charles. This could be a good week to start Arian Foster, who as of this writing looked to be the frontrunner for the No. 1 RB slot in Houston. The Texans take on the Raiders that week, and Oakland was torched for 24 touchdowns on the ground in 2009. That tied with St. Louis for the highest total allowed league-wide. The Rams happen to take on the Seahawks that week; Justin Forsett or Julius Jones may be on your league's waiver wire and worth consideration for a one-week pickup.

    If you have Romo (or Brett Favre, should he decide not to retire) you obviously won't have Aaron Rodgers, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to benefit from Rodgers' production that week. The Packers host the Lions, who were laughably bad against the pass in '09. Detroit gave up an astounding 35 TDs through the air, and odds are their secondary will not have done a 180 by Week 4. Someone like James Jones could maybe put up some one-week numbers if you're scrambling to replace Austin, Rice or Percy Harvin.

Week 5
BYE: Miami, New England, Pittsburgh, Seattle
    The biggest hit here, of course, will be to Tom Brady and Randy Moss owners, but those counting on Brandon Marshall, Ronnie Brown and maybe even Chad Henne will be feeling the pain as well.

    Quarterback-wise, Stafford will once again look like a great start, as the Lions host the Rams. Matt Moore could also be worth a look as a one-week pickup as the Panthers host the Bears, who allowed 29 passing TDs. At running back, Foster could once again be a good start here as the Texans host the Giants, who surrendered 21 rushing TDs. The Falcons' Michael Jenkins will be worth some free agent consideration at wide receiver, since Atlanta plays Cleveland.

Week 6
BYE: Buffalo, Cincinnati, Arizona, Carolina
    Not a whole lot of impact here unless Carson Palmer is your starting QB, either DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart is your starting running back, or you have either Larry Fitzgerald or Steve Smith at wide receiver.
      This looks like a good week to roll out Vince Young at Jacksonville, seeing how the Jaguars allowed a surprising 28 passing TDs in 2009. Henne is worth a look against Green Bay and Alex Smith is worth a flyer at home against the Raiders. Jahvid Best, should he be established at the No. 1 running back in Detroit by then, has a shot at strong numbers against the Giants while Foster's Texans are at home against Kansas City.
      At receiver, Robert Meachem and the Saints take on Tampa Bay and T.J. Houshmandzadeh and the Seahawks play Chicago. Miami's Davone Bess could be a great sleeper this week as the Dolphins play Green Bay.

Week 7
BYE: Detroit, Indianapolis, NY Jets, Houston
    Big names sitting on their couch this week include Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne, Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson, and Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson.

     It would be a true reach to ever recommend Tampa Bay QB Josh Freeman, but the Bucs do host the Rams so he's at least worth a little consideration. If you can grab Kyle Orton off the free agent pile this could be the week to start him since the Broncos host Oakland. If you were able to grab Donovan McNabb as your No. 2 QB behind Manning, he travels to his hometown of Chicago. Odds are good he'll post strong numbers.

    It's pretty much slim pickings among lower-tier replacement running backs this particular week. Denver RBs Correll Buckhalter and Knowshon Moreno look like good starts at home against Oakland, while the Bucs' Cadillac Williams has a great matchup at home against St. Louis.

    Receivers who have a chance to shine include Dwayne Bowe at home against the Jaguars and Meachem or Devery Henderson at home against the Browns.

Week 8
BYE: Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, NY Giants, Philadelphia, Baltimore
    This is the first of two "big daddy" bye weeks, with six teams off instead of the usual four. And it will definitely sting Fantasy owners, with players like Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, Roddy White, DeSean Jackson, Ray Rice and Anquan Boldin sitting idle.

    Matt Moore is again worth a look as the Panthers play the Rams, and Matt Hasselbeck (provided he's still upright by Week 8) is a good bet for good numbers against Oakland. Hasselbeck's backfield mate Forsett is another potential sleeper against the Raiders. Arizona' wideout Steve Breaston is a candidate to light up the Buccaneers at home.

Week 9
BYE: Denver, Tennessee, St. Louis, San Francisco, Washington, Jacksonville
    The impact of this bye week will be chiefly felt at the running back position, as Chris Johnson, Steven Jackson, Frank Gore and Maurice Jones-Drew will be absent. Buffalo running backs C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson would be worth a test drive, as the Bills host Chicago, and Laurence Maroney and the Pats take on Cleveland. Otherwise, the cupboard looks pretty bare in terms of running backs likely to be taken either in the later rounds of the draft or off the waiver wire.

Week 10
BYE: Green Bay, Oakland, New Orleans, San Diego
    The last bye week is among the worst, with huge impacts at quarterback. Those who own Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Philip Rivers will be scrambling. The good news is if you own one of those players, you'll have 10 weeks to try and find a suitable fill-in. Good candidates at this point include Detroit's Matthew Stafford at Buffalo, Carolina's Moore against the Buccaneers, Denver's Orton at home against Kansas City and San Francisco's Smith at home against the Rams.