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Fantasy Football Freakout: Patriots QB Tom Brady

Things were supposed to be better for Tom Brady's fantasy football owners in Week 7 with touchdown-magnet Rob Gronkowski back in the lineup. The result: 22-for-46 for 228 yards with no touchdowns and a pick. At this point, Brady owners may have given up completely.

Those who own the struggling Patriots quarterback are rightfully freaking out about his 55-percent completion rate and 8-5 TD-to-INT ratio through seven games. Those who don't own Brady are relieved, but probably also circling like vultures right now, looking to buy low on the current No. 22 fantasy QB -- but should they be?

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (AP Photo)

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The reason for Brady's early-season struggles are obvious: he lost a huge chunk of his receiving corps from last season and has had to work around the lengthy absences of Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and Shane Vereen. The Patriots offense is all about precise timing, and when you replace luxury pieces with cheap parts, you go from a Rolex to a Timex.

What's not-so-obvious is that Brady has been taking a lot more sacks this season; he's been dropped 13 times in the last three games and is on pace to take 46 sacks, which would be by far a career high. That also has a lot to do with the Pats' inexperienced receivers not getting open, causing Brady to hold the ball longer, and not adjusting to the blitz. Teams are realizing they can pressure Brady, who used to be lethal against the blitz, without his normal safety valves in place.

That's definitely a long-term concern, but there is some optimism for Brady. He's already gotten Gronk back. Even though there were some miscues between the two in Week 7 -- Gronkowski only caught eight of 17 targets, committed at least one drop and was the target on Brady's pick-six -- the tight end was clearly Brady's top target and will be a huge boost for him once the rust is gone.

Brady should eventually get both Amendola and Vereen back, too, although it's risky to rely too much on either to stay healthy. Amendola, who's still basically a newcomer in this offense, could return as soon as Week 8, while Vereen is eligible to return in Week 11 after the bye.

Unfortunately for current Brady owners, it's probably too late for them to recover from his disastrous start and nearly impossible to wait a few more weeks for everyone to get healthy. That creates a unique buy-low opportunity for owners who need to take a risk on a QB and can afford to wait -- perhaps until after the Week 10 bye -- for the Patriots offense to get up to full speed.

There are better days ahead for Brady and he can be had for pennies on the dollar, it's just a matter of whether you can afford to wait for them to get here.

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