The injury to Rob Gronkowski is a big deal for the New England Patriots. That goes without saying. He’s the second best player on the team, even when they’re at full strength. Hell, he’s the best tight end to ever play the game. But even a temporary absence by the man known as Gronk is not a death sentence for the defending champions.

As long as the Patriots have Tom Brady, everything’s going to be fine. I should probably preface this be explicitly stating that I am not a Pats fan. More than anything, I’m a gambler and a football fan (probably in that order).

You can’t replace Gronkowski, but you can certainly evolve in reaction to his injury. I’m not here to discuss x’s and o’s. You just have to look at the history of the Patriots in the Belichik era. They’ve gone from dink-and-dunk, to steamrolling the football with a clock killer, to bombing it out with Moss and back to dinking it…all under the watchful eye of Tom Brady.

In other words, the Patriots have been masterful at adapting to the circumstances of their team because Brady is the truest sense of a transcendent quarterback. He makes everyone around him better.

Fantasy sports isn’t about the money, it’s about enjoying the game, the teams and players you pick, says NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Speaking at a fan forum in Minneapolis on Sunday, in advance of the Minnesota Vikings-Green Bay Packers game, Goodell reiterated that fantasy sports should be about providing fans a fun way to interact with the game, drawing a line between traditional season-long games and the daily versions.

“Season-long fantasy [which] many people probably play here in this room — it’s for fun. It’s social,” said Goodell. “It’s an opportunity to enjoy the game, and we encourage our kids to do it. They have clubs in school. It’s a way to connect people, and we think that’s a wonderful way.”

Daily fantasy sports has taken a little different approach, Goodell pointed out, allowing participants to independently play and pick whatever players they want.

A National Football League player has launched a class action suit against daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel, accusing the site of profiting off himself and other NFL players without compensating them in return.

On Friday, Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garçon filed suit in Maryland, accusing FanDuel of having “misappropriated” the names and likenesses of “offensive skilled position” players. Garçon says FanDuel “knowingly and improperly exploits the popularity” of NFL players, who he’s invited to join his class action.

Garçon’s suit makes no mention of the other major DFS operator, DraftKings, presumably because the NFL Players Association struck a marketing partnership with DraftKings in September that permitted the use of NFL player images.

Interestingly, Garçon was actively shilling for FanDuel last year via his personal Twitter account, offering the chance to win free tickets to Redskins games for players who signed up for the DFS site. Garçon’s personal involvement predated the team partnership the Skins signed with FanDuel last November.

A National Football League player has launched a class action suit against daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel, accusing the site of profiting off himself and other NFL players without compensating them in return.

On Friday, Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garçon filed suit in Maryland, accusing FanDuel of having “misappropriated” the names and likenesses of “offensive skilled position” players. Garçon says FanDuel “knowingly and improperly exploits the popularity” of NFL players, who he’s invited to join his class action.

Garçon’s suit makes no mention of the other major DFS operator, DraftKings, presumably because the NFL Players Association struck a marketing partnership with DraftKings in September that permitted the use of NFL player images.

Interestingly, Garçon was actively shilling for FanDuel last year via his personal Twitter account, offering the chance to win free tickets to Redskins games for players who signed up for the DFS site. Garçon’s personal involvement predated the team partnership the Skins signed with FanDuel last November.

It was a party weekend for the House as five heavily backed teams crashed and burned on the NFL gridiron. The public party crashers included the Steelers and Falcons, but the biggest disappointments were the Bills, Colts and Chargers. Those three clubs entered Week 7 as four or more point favorites, but each was the victim of an outright upset on Sunday.

Buffalo, even with second-string quarterback E.J. Manuel at the controls, was favored by 4.5 points in their London showdown with the Jaguars. And the public liked the Bills at that number (63 percent were on Rex Ryan’s squad to cover the spread) largely because Jacksonville owned just one win and had lost its other five games by an average of 13.2 points per contest.

Buffalo out-gained the Jags by 80 yards, but 10 penalties and four turnovers, including two picks by the aforementioned Manuel, resulted in a 31-34 loss.

Indy and San Diego bit the dust in similar fashion, combining for five turnovers in 21-27 and 29-37 losses to New Orleans and Oakland, respectively. They were both getting nearly 70-percent of the public’s money.

It was a party weekend for the House as five heavily backed teams crashed and burned on the NFL gridiron. The public party crashers included the Steelers and Falcons, but the biggest disappointments were the Bills, Colts and Chargers. Those three clubs entered Week 7 as four or more point favorites, but each was the victim of an outright upset on Sunday.

Buffalo, even with second-string quarterback E.J. Manuel at the controls, was favored by 4.5 points in their London showdown with the Jaguars. And the public liked the Bills at that number (63 percent were on Rex Ryan’s squad to cover the spread) largely because Jacksonville owned just one win and had lost its other five games by an average of 13.2 points per contest.

Buffalo out-gained the Jags by 80 yards, but 10 penalties and four turnovers, including two picks by the aforementioned Manuel, resulted in a 31-34 loss.

Indy and San Diego bit the dust in similar fashion, combining for five turnovers in 21-27 and 29-37 losses to New Orleans and Oakland, respectively. They were both getting nearly 70-percent of the public’s money.

Over 15 million viewers tuned in to Yahoo’s first-ever live stream of an NFL game.

Yahoo announced Monday that the Sunday’s matchup from London between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars gained 15.2 million unique viewers, of which 66% or about 10 million people were in the U.S.

The game also hit over 33.6 million total views across all devices on Yahoo and Tumblr, amounting to more than 460 million total minutes of the game.

Viewers were able to watch the game, a thrilling 34-31 Jaguars victory, in a variety of ways such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart television sets.

Over 15 million viewers tuned in to Yahoo’s first-ever live stream of an NFL game.

Yahoo announced Monday that the Sunday’s matchup from London between the Buffalo Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars gained 15.2 million unique viewers, of which 66% or about 10 million people were in the U.S.

The game also hit over 33.6 million total views across all devices on Yahoo and Tumblr, amounting to more than 460 million total minutes of the game.

Viewers were able to watch the game, a thrilling 34-31 Jaguars victory, in a variety of ways such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart television sets.

Nevada gaming regulators have ruled that daily fantasy sports (DFS) is gambling and therefore DFS operators need a license to take action from Nevada residents.

On Thursday, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a ‘cease and desist’ order to all DFS sites currently serving Nevada customers. In a notice posted on its website, the Board says analysis by its staff and the state Attorney General’s office concluded that DFS “constitutes gambling under Nevada law” because it involves “wagering on the collective performance of individuals participating in sporting events,” as established under Chapter 463 of the Nevada Revised Statutes.

Henceforth, any DFS operator wishing to continue its dealings with Nevada players will have to obtain the necessary sports betting license from the Nevada Gaming Commission, with all the attendant poking, prodding, fingerprinting and taxation that this process entails.

The Board says its existing sportsbook licensees “may expose DFS for play themselves” in the state but licensees “should exercise discretion in participating in business associations with DFS operators that have not obtained Nevada gaming approvals.” Licensees wishing to do business with DFS operators should also conduct “thorough and objective reviews of DFS activities under the laws of other states and any applicable federal laws.”

Bookmakers had their best week of the NFL season as a handful of public teams dove head long into the short end of the pool on Sunday. Among the fateful divers were the Falcons, Jaguars, Saints, Bills and Giants.

Three teams from that money sucking quintuplet — Atlanta, Buffalo and New York —managed to secure straight up wins, but they failed to cover spreads of seven, two and seven points, respectively.

Matt Ryan and the Dirty Birds were forced into overtime by a salty Redskins squad, and they won the game via a pick six in the extra period; however, the defensive score was not enough to cash for the 74-percent that wagered on a Falcons cover. Atlanta won the contest 25-19.

The tight line in the Bills/Titans game (two points) had people backing Buffalo, the seemingly superior team, at 75-percent against the spread. The Bills spotted Tennessee 10 points, though, and while they were able to mount a game sealing comeback, their 14-13 victory was also a win for the bookmakers.