This column looks at the matchups of three �bubble� players each week � not guys you�ll automatically keep in the lineup week in and week out, but guys who are borderline starters depending on their matchups.

Week 13 Recap:� I told you to start Marcel Shipp, to sit Drew Bledsoe, and to start Eddie Kennison in a pinch.� What Happened: Could I have been more wrong?� Shipp laid an egg.� Bledsoe threw for 300+ yards and 3 TDs.� I was in the ballpark only on Kennison, whose 8.5 FFP fell short of the 10 FFP I projected.

Week 11 Record: 0-2-1.� Season to date: 14-20-6.

Week 14 Bubble Players

I�m going to do something a bit different this week by focusing on three quarterbacks: two that have been on an unexpected hot streak, and one that has been on an unexpected cold streak.

QB Matt Hasselbeck vs. the Eagles

Matt Hasselbeck was known as �Mr. August� when he was in Green Bay because he always played so sell during the preseason before taking a permanent seat behind Brett Favre during the regular season.

Mike Holmgren, who coached Hasselbeck in Green Bay, brought the young QB over to seattle to be the Seahawks� starter in 2001.� Things didn�t work out very well last year for Hasselbeck, though, as he struggled through his first year as a starter, looking like a rookie for the most part.� Trent Dilfer ultimately took over, went 4-0, and was named the starter for 2002.

Dilfer went down with an injury in week 7 of this year, and Hasselbeck is back in the saddle at least for the rest of this season.� And he has done much better.

Hasselbeck�s physical talent was never in question.� He has a good arm, he can throw with touch, and he is a good overall athlete with decent mobility in the pocket.� However, he�s still inexperienced and will force the ball into coverage, causing him to throw too many interceptions.

Hasselbeck has been on quite a hot streak lately.� He set a Seahawks record with 427 passing yards last week.� He has thrown for 969 yards over the last three weeks, second only to Rich Gannon.� However, I�m not jumping on the bandwagon just yet.� His schedule is about to get substantially more difficult.� The 789 yards he�s amassed in the last two games have come against the Chiefs, who are last in the league in pass defense, and the 49ers, who have struggled lately as well.

This week he faces an Eagle defense that has perhaps the fiercest pass rush in the league.� They�ve produced a league-leading 42 sacks this season.� They sacked Kurt Warner eight times last week.� They sacked Matt Hasselbeck seven times when these teams faced each other last September.� The Eagles make things very difficult for opposing QBs, often blitzing a corner and a safety from the same side of the field � sometimes a corner, safety, and a linebacker.� They�ve even been known to send both corners on the same play.

The Eagles will take advantage of Hasselbeck�s inexperience this week and will hold him in check.� Don�t count on him to come anywhere near the 350+ yard games he�s put together recently.

Projection: 22 of 36 for 213 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT

QB Jon Kitna vs. the Panthers

Kitna, like Hasselbeck, is on quite a hot streak right now.� He has a QB rating of over 100 over the past six weeks, but the Bengals won�t commit to making him their starter even for the rest of this year, never mind next year.� They may want to get a look at Akili Smith and possibly even Joe Germaine before the year is over to help them evaluate what offseason moves they�ll need to make at QB.� (Kitna�s contract might play into this as well.� He will earn a $1.65 million bonus if he takes 80% of the team�s snaps this year.� If he plays all of the next four games, it will be very close: he�s currently on pace to take 79.58% of the snaps, but if the team averages over 65 plays a game, he could reach 80%.)

Kitna is a veteran QB who makes his reads very quickly and is accurate on short throws.� He lacks great arm strength and doesn�t throw a great deep ball, but can pick a defense apart underneath if he�s given time. He finished strong last year as well, throwing for 751 yards in the final two games.� Throughout 2001 and the first half of 2002, he�s been hurt by the inexperience and unreliability of the Bengals� WR corps, but Chad Johnson has developed into a legitimate weapon over the last month and a half.� With Corey Dillon to keep opposing defenses honest, Kitna may keep putting up good fantasy numbers for as long as he remains the starter.� He�ll probably be playing from behind most of the time, which helps as well.

His matchup this week isn�t too daunting.� On paper, the Panthers have the fourth-stingiest pass defense in the league, allowing only 190.3 yards per game.� However, that apparent stinginess is partially explained by the fact that opponents who�ve gotten an early lead against the Panthers have subsequently controlled the clock by running the ball, not passing it.� That shouldn�t happen this week: if any team is unlikely to get a big lead in a game, it�s the Bengals.� Look for Kitna to continue to roll.

Projection: 21 of 30 for 259 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT

QB: Tom Brady vs. the Bills

Brady started out the season on fire, but has cooled off considerably in recent weeks.� He�s still on pace to become just the second quarterback in franchise history to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season; and he still leads the AFC with 24 touchdown passes; but over the last three weeks, he�s averaged just 14.58 fantasy points a game � good for 24^th in the league among QBs.� He�s failed to throw a touchdown pass in only two games this season, but both of those two games have come in the last three weeks.� Particularly disturbing is the fact that this three-game fantasy slump has come against the Raiders, Vikings, and Lions (ranked #20, #31, and #29 against the pass, respectively).� Is this a sign of things to come, or just a normal blip in production?

I believe it�s a normal blip.� Brady has played fine recently, minimizing mistakes and leading the team to four wins in their last five games.� The Patriots didn�t have to rely on Brady�s arm to beat the Vikings or the Lions, as they held both teams to under 20 points.� This week, a rematch against the Bills, may be a different story: having to keep up with Bledsoe & Co. should mean more attempts for Brady

Last time Brady faced the Bills, in week 9 of this season, he completed 22 of 26 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns.� (It originally appeared that he was 23 of 27 for 310 yards and four touchdowns, but a 45 yard touchdown pass to Kevin Faulk was later ruled a backward pass.)� That was mostly a dink-and-dunk day for Brady as he relied heavily on screen passes to march down the field.� Expect the Bills to do a better job of taking the underneath passes away this time, forcing Brady to take more shots down the field.� He�s got the arm strength, touch, accuracy, and receivers to do it, so expect his fantasy slump to end this week.� Start him if you got him.

Projection: 26 of 34 for 288 yards, 2 TDs, 0.3 INTs