In the fantasy world, however, Thigpen looms large as one of the great surprises of 2008. And as many leagues head into their stretch run or even the playoffs, this is the perfect time for fantasy GMs like me to start overthinking. If you added Thigpen to your roster this season, do you keep riding his hot hand, or do you worry about what effect the return of running back Larry Johnson will have on the Chiefs' passing offense?

Based on Johnson's first game back last week, we'd advise anyone with Thigpen in his or her lineup to dance with who brung you.

Thigpen took over the starting job on Oct. 26 against the New York Jets , after Chiefs QBs Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard were lost to season-ending injuries. Thigpen outplayed Brett Favre in that game, a 28-24 Jets victory, throwing for 280 yards with two touchdown passes and no interceptions. In his four games as the starter, Thigpen has connected for eight touchdowns with just one interception, with an average of 236 passing yards per game.

Thigpen was drafted in the seventh round by the Minnesota Vikings in 2007. Minnesota tried to stash him on the practice squad and the Chiefs claimed him on waivers.

He played college ball at Division I-AA Coastal Carolina, where he owns all the school's passing records. It must be pointed out, though, that the Chanticleers only started playing Football in 2003, Thigpen's freshman year.

Chiefs offensive coordinator Chan Gailey has been running a spread offense with Thigpen, making use of the shotgun and the no-huddle. It's been working well, with the quarterback throwing to tight end Tony Gonzalez and receivers Dwayne Bowe and Mark Bradley. Working well except for that pesky six-game losing streak the Chiefs are on.

Last week Larry Johnson returned to the Chiefs' lineup after a four-game absence. The team benched him for three games for violating team rules, then the NFL suspended him one game for his involvement in an altercation with a woman at a Kansas City nightclub.

The question entering last Sunday's game against New Orleans was how would the Chiefs' offense accommodate both Johnson's power running and Thigpen's spread offense?

Gailey's answer was the "pistol" formation, with Johnson lining up in the "I" and Thigpen in a shortened shotgun position. Johnson had six carries of 8 yards or more, all out of the pistol formation.

As anyone who has Johnson on his fantasy roster knows, LJ was terrible near the goal line, where the Chiefs used a conventional formation. Johnson had a total of minus-2 yards in four carries from inside the 5-yard line. Johnson ended up with 67 yards on 19 carries in a 30-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints.

There's no reason to believe the Chiefs won't stick with the pistol or other variations on the spread offense.

K.C.'s remaining games are against the Bills, whose defense ranks 13th against the pass, followed by the Raiders (12th), Broncos (29th), Chargers (32nd), Dolphins (20th) and Bengals (15th). Thigpen may not be Tom Brady, but that stretch against Denver, San Diego and Miami will coincide with playoff weeks in most fantasy leagues, so the decision to play Thigpen is as easy as Sunday morning.

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The Beast is loose

Bills running back Marshawn Lynch finally got untracked in Monday night's loss to Cleveland, rushing for 119 yards and racking up 177 total yards. The question is, will he keep it going?

As fantasy owners we need to take things one game at a time. And this week's matchup against the Chiefs suggests another fine day for Lynch.

First, K.C. is ranked second-last in the league in run defense, yielding 165.4 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry.

Second, Bills quarterback Trent Edwards was not throwing the ball with a lot of confidence on Monday night. If Edwards continues to shy away from the long pass, that's only going to help Lynch's fantasy statistics.

e-mail: gconnors@buffnews.com