The New England Patriots have signed former Cincinnati Bengals kicker Shayne Graham to temporarily fill-in for injured kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Gostkowski has a quad injury, according to the Boston Herald. Graham has played in the league for 10 years and has converted 85 percent of his field-goal attempts in his career. The Herald is also reporting that Gostkowski is expected to miss two games. Unfortunately for New England, their next two games are against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Indianapolis Colts. Both games are very important to the Patriots' playoff hopes.

Fantasy Analysis:

This injury couldn't come at a worse time for New England with two huge games coming up against the Steelers and Colts. Graham is a great kicker but he's been underachieving the last couple seasons and has been unable to hold down a kicking job. For Gostkowski owners, this isn't that big of a deal as kickers are easy to come by on most waiver wires. Playing the matchups is key when replacing a kicker. Consider a quality offensive team going up against a solid defensive team. The assumption here being the offense might get hung up in the red-zone once or twice, creating scoring opportunities for your kicker.