By Rob Centorani

Bye bye byes.

Don't worry, I'm not paying homage to my favorite *NSYNC song. I'm simply bidding good riddance to one of the most annoying parts of every fantasy season.

With the new - and improved -NFL scheduling system, Week 10 marked the last any team would sit out with a bye. That means we fantasy owners no longer have to worry about sitting our stars and resting hopes on some scrub with no other reason to be on the roster.

From this point on - barring injury -it's time to set whatever stars you have in the lineup and ride the season out on their backs. By now, you're roster is most likely set in that no more trades will be pulled off and few sleepers will emerge from the waiver wire.

It's also time to drop those hopes you've been holding out on if they haven't panned out yet.

Give up on Curtis Martin making a full comeback. He's scored in the last few games, but he's not going to regain his regular form this season. Forget about Jon Gruden getting anyone going consistently on offense in Tampa Bay. Unfortunately for them, they can't play the Vikings every week.

Don't expect Edgerrin James to be back at full strength until 2003. Even this miracle age of medicine can't quite handle such a quick turnaround for an ACL. Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper are not going to rebound. There may be a big game here or there, but the year will end a disappointment.

Chicago's defense won't rejuvenate. The Bears have suffered too many injuries. Likewise, the Saints won't rekindle their defensive flame from the past couple of years. They lost too much to free agency (i.e. La'Roi Glover and Joe Johnson).

Still, although it may be time to let go of dreams and rest on stars, injuries do happen. Stephen Davis is trying to come back from his knee trouble. It appears he'll carry at least half the load this week against the Giants, so all you Kenny Watson owners can soon forget about him. Marshall Faulk, however, could be the second former MVP to hit the bench for the Rams on Monday against the Bears. If Faulk is held out, Lamar Gordon automatically becomes a good fantasy play.

Gordon is a smart play for two reasons. First is the obvious: Offensive players thrive in the St. Louis system. Second, he matches up at home against a Bears defense that places in the league's bottom six in yardage and has given up more points than all but three teams in the NFC.

Even though it's time to largely rest on stars, such matchups will continue to be important in this sometimes unpredictable season. This week's other favorable matchups:

• Play any offensive players you have on the Saints or Falcons. The teams combined for 71 points in their New Orleans meeting, and Atlanta keeps them indoors and on the turf.

• Likewise, start your Bills and Chiefs, as the two may put up more points than a Knicks-Heat matchup would produce.

A similar prediction was easy for the first game between K.C. and Oakland but didn't eventuate in the Chiefs' 20-10 victory. The scoreboard will light up more in this game, because the Bills are more balanced offensively than the Raiders. This should look more like the Patriots-Chiefs overtime shootout of Week 2.

• Once again, sit any offensive players in the Tampa Bay-Carolina game. I correctly predicted no touchdowns in the last contest, and there's no reason to expect many more this time.

• The Eagles got beat up on both sides of the ball by a lesser Colts team last week. I, for one, feel sorry for the Cardinals in Philadelphia. Look for spirited play from Philly on both sides of the ball. Arizona has played tough defense at times but has had particular trouble against the pass. If Donovan McNabb is to get back on track, he'll have to do it Sunday.

Copy editor Matt Schauf writes a weekly column for The Daily Star. E-mail him at mschauf@thedailystar.com.