The trading deadline passed with two deals being made, and now it’s time to decide what they mean.

Despite the fact that the deadline passed after Week 7 and the NFL is heading into Week 8, the deals won’t begin to make an impact until now.

The San Diego Chargers had their bye in Week 7, and the bigger of the two moves was San Diego’s trade for receiver Chris Chambers.

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(The other move was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers trading with the Chiefs for halfback Michael Bennett. But that will have about as much bearing as the 49ers activating running back Zak Keasey from the practice squad. In other words, don’t worry about it.)

Now Chambers won’t be a free agent, and if he is you somehow joined a league entirely of monkeys. As if the team names “Coco’s Crew” and “Feces Tossers” weren’t enough of a giveaway … uh, let’s move on.

Chambers’ value automatically goes up because Miami stinks. That’s a given. But this trade will also help some other players on San Diego’s offense.

Philip Rivers actually has a threat on the outside, for starters. Of Rivers’ 116 completions this season, 68 have went to either Antonio Gates or LaDainian Tomlinson.

The trade of Chambers could also be good news for Vincent Jackson, who has done little in fantasy all season. Now opposing defenses will need to assign their best cornerback to Chambers, which could leave Jackson open more than he has been. (Hint: it hasn’t been much.)

With that settled, it’s time for another edition of “Who’s Burning Detroit?”

Last week’s answer was Ike Hilliard, who totaled 92 yards and a touchdown against the Lions’ secondary.

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Detroit heads to Chicago this week, and Muhsin Muhammad is available as a free agent in about half of the NFL.com fantasy leagues.

If you can get him or Bernard Berrian, do it – because when you can get 15 points from the likes of Ike Hilliard, you know this segment is for real.

Sit: Brian Westbrook, Earnest Graham, LaMont Jordan, Randy Moss, Laurence Maroney.

Start: Muhammad and Berrian, Lee Evans, Brian Griese, Torry Holt.

Daily Egyptian writer Scott Mieszala can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 256 or [email protected].

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