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Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Injured QBs Cause Fantasy Owners to Scramble

Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the NFL news with fantasy football impact.

Sunday was a tough day for quarterbacks, but it wasn't until Monday afternoon that the fallout from the Week 11 injuries started coming to light. Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger received good news and may be able to play in Week 12. The same can't be said for Marc Bulger and Matthew Stafford.

If I gave out a tough-man award each week, I would have no trouble handing the hardware to Stafford for his heroics on Detroit's final game-winning drive. Stafford sprained his shoulder on the next-to-final play on Sunday and John Niyo of The Detroit News says he will likely miss the Lions' Week 12 game on Thanksgiving day.

Roto Strategy: Using Your Games Wisely

This post is in response to a question a reader posed regarding the "games played" strategy in roto leagues. For those who may not be familiar with what I'm talking about, most standard roto leagues mandate an 82 game 'cap' at each position. Which means, you are only allowed to have an active player in your point guard position for 82 games. You can use the games whenever you want, with whichever player you choose. But, once you hit the 82-game mark, be it in February or April, you can no longer start a player at the point guard position.

This rule is put in place to keep owners from 'streaming' -- this means keeping owners honest and not having them add and drop a handful of players each night just to accumulate stats. Certain head-to-head leagues use an add/drop cap, usually at five moves per week.

Simple enough, right? But the question remains, what's the best strategy for using your games played? How do you manage the totals? Some people have different ways of approaching the games played strategy, but I'll give you some tips that I feel work best -- at least for me.

Damage Control: Ladell Betts Tears Two Knee Ligaments

Ladell BettsDid the injury bug hit your fantasy football team like it was a car windshield moving at 100 MPH? If so, it may be time to do some Damage Control.

Quarterback

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers - Even though he was knocked out of the game during the overtime period with a concussion, Roethlisberger was cleared to fly home and early indications seem promising for a quick return.

Marc Bulger, Rams - After the game, Bulger told the media that he had an injured groin and hamstring. It was a few shots to the head that has the Rams coaching staff worried. Bulger did not suffer a concussion but seemed woozy at times down the stretch. (Update: Bulger is out three to six weeks with a knee injury.)

Fantasy Reality Check: A Giant Problem

Brandon Jacobs
Each Monday of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.


The 2008 New York Giants were a power football team. They led the NFL in rushing yards with more than 2,500. They had two runners go for over 1,000 yards while another averaged 5.3 yards per carry in limited action. Derrick Ward's departure wasn't supposed to matter, as Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw would continue to spearhead a dynamic rushing offense behind a great offensive line. In theory at least. Instead, the 2009 Giants are a shell of their former selves in terms of running the football.

Garnett Ends It Late; Kobe Ends It Early

Home Delivery is your morning roundup of last night's action in the NBA from a fantasy perspective.

After starting the game 1-for-10, Kevin Garnett finished strong hitting four of his last five field goal attempts, including the game winner in overtime. Paul Pierce lead the way for the Celtics scoring 33 points, while Rajon Rondo just missed posting a triple-double going for 14 points, nine rebounds, 10 assists and four steals.

The Knicks with another one of those famed moral victories, were led by Al Harrington's 30 points off the bench and David Lee's 22 points and 15 rebounds. The Knicks are 3-10 on the season, yet they lead the league with seven moral victories -- two more than the New Jersey Nets, yet almost as many as my fantasy football team.

Waiver Wire Wonders: Big Passing Days Equal Big Receiving Days

Weeding through those unwieldy waiver wires requires a keen eye and a quick trigger. Thus, Waiver Wire Wonders provides a weekly snapshot of players worthy of consideration who should be available on a good portion of league waiver wires.

Just because those trade deadlines passed doesn't mean it is time to rest on your laurels and ride out the rest of the season with the team you currently hold. On the contrary, the unavailability of the trade option makes the waiver wire all that much more important. And while we likely will not see another week with the potential fantasy impact of last week yet again this season, there is still plenty to do before playoff time.

This week, the biggest waiver wire benefactors came as a result of some huge passing efforts. Among others, we witnessed two scoops for scores from a tight end, a two-catch, two-touchdown effort by a repeat waiver wire wonder, and a rookie play-maker with a solid performance.

Fantasy Football Wrap: T.O. Is Alive

Terrell OwensSunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Riser of the Week: Terrell Owens came into Sunday with just 26 catches for 366 yards and a single touchdown -- in nine games. Considering the Bills were switching back to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who did no favors for T.O. when at the helm earlier this season, there was very little reason to start Owens in many fantasy leagues. Instead, T.O. reminded us how cruel a mistress fantasy football can be. He's still alive and kicking, as he ushered forth a vintage stat line. Nine catches for 197 yards and a touchdown. Is this 2007? I'm not buying any sort of extended rejuvenation moving forward, but it probably felt good for T.O. -- if only for one Sunday in 2009.

Fantasy Football Tailgate: Week 11

Fantasy Football TailgateEven after 10 weeks of mind-boggling fantasy football action, there doesn't seem to be any escape from the frenzy. A hip flexor sidelines Cedric Benson. Steve Slaton gets his starting job back. Heck, even Chris Simms is launching passes downfield again.

We'll help you sort through the shakeups and answer your questions, starting at 10:30AM ET all the way until kickoff. Reminder: only ask your question once, as repeats do slow down how quickly we can empty the queue. We will get to every question. Welcome aboard the S.S. Tailgate!

Fourth and 26: Ram-tastic

Need a last-minute fill-in for this week? 4th and 26 is here to throw you a couple deep sleepers, guys available in at least 90 percent of Fleaflicker leagues that could give your fantasy football team a big boost.

Deep sleeper, thy name is Brandon Gibson. We touted Gibson as a deep sleeper last week, and he came through big, with nearly 100 yards in his first extended action of his career. Many deep league owners have snatched the rookie up already, but if he's still available in your 14-team or 16-team league, the time to act is now. He should be a big part of the offense for the rest of the season and is obviously a great deep sleeper yet again this week.

Nuggets, Lakers With Favorables; Bulls, Hornets Each Play Two

Court Vision is a breakdown of the weekly schedule to help you set your fantasy lineup.

The Nuggets have arguably the most favorable schedule with home games against the Nets, Knicks and a home/road series against the T-Wolves. For starters, the Nuggets have won 15 straight home games, while averaging 117 points per game at home. Then there's the fact that Minnesota is allowing 114.4 points per game on the road, while the Knicks yield 105.5 points away from The Garden.

And do we need to get started on the Nets? Yes, the 0-13 Nets. New Jersey is 27th in the league offering 8.8 steals per game and 25th in opponents rebounding at 44.6 per. With that, Kenyon Martin made top of my list in this week's waiver adds. Look at Ty Lawson in deep leagues as well. Chris Andersen should tattoo the Knicks on the defensive end of the ball. Eh? Tattoo? Get out of my way, I'm on fire!

With that, let's break down the schedule.

Who's Got Next: Turning to Hughes

Who's Got Next is a weekly look at some of the top players widely available on the waiver wires. Larry Hughes owners let out a sigh of relief on Friday when news dropped that the Knicks were no longer interested in signing Allen Iverson. It seemed ...

Fantasy Football Over/Under: Week 11

Here's how it works. We throw some intriguing matchups at the FanHouse staff and ask whether each player will be over or under a certain point total. The result? Fantasy Football Over/Under. Makes sense, right? Brett Favre or Matt Ryan? Pierre ...

Who's Been Biggest Bust of Them All?

When it comes to the proposition of who has been the biggest bust in fantasy football this season, it's a highly debatable subject. There is seemingly no correct answer, as so many different factors and arguments come into play. However, I've got one ...

Ballhawkin': The QB-Sacking Rookie

Think IDP leagues are the way to go? Then Ballhawkin' is for you. Here, we pick out a few Individual Defensive Players that could have huge weeks and are possibly sitting in your free-agent pool. From last week's column, David Hawthorne turned in ...

Fantasy Cram Session: Run, Ricky, Run

We're back. It's "Run, Ricky, Run!" Week here at Fantasy FanHouse, as we witnessed Ricky Williams thrust himself into the ranks of other must-start running backs. First, Ronnie Brown went down for the season, next Ricky provided fantasy owners with a ...

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Latest Fantasy Football Notes

  • Brandon Jacobs (RB) NYG
    Jacobs (knee) practiced and seemed fine Monday, the Newark Star-Ledger reports.
  • Matt Forte (RB) CHI
    Head coach Lovie Smith defended Forte's performance in Sunday's game against the Eagles in which the second-year back ran for just 34 yards on 14 carries, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
  • Jason Ferguson (DL) MIA
    Ferguson (quad) was officially placed on IR on Monday, according to the Dolphins' Web site.
  • Marcus Stroud (DT) BUF
    Stroud said hes ready to return after missing Sundays game with a sore right knee, the Associated Press reports.
  • Bo Scaife (TE) TEN
    Scaife caught four passes against the Texans for 38 yards.
  • Read More Notes»

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