FanHouse

Injuries to Watch: Thanksgiving Day

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-26T01:45:00 00:00

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

o. Tony Romo, Cowboys - Romo was limited in practice on Wednesday with a sore back but will definitely play on Thursday.

o. Kyle Orton, Broncos - Orton is slowed by an ankle injury but will play Thursday night.

UPDATE: Both Calvin Johnson and Matt Stafford are ACTIVE | More Player News

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Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Can Jerome Harrison Regain Fantasy Relevancy?

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-26T00:21:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report, NFL Stash or Trash

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

Have you wondered at all what's been going on with Jerome Harrison? He started bursting onto the scene in Week 3 as he ran for 52 yards on 16 carries. He followed that up in Week 4 by breaking the century mark -- rumbling for 121 on 29 carries. Harrison was beginning to look like a valuable fantasy running back.

Then over the next four weeks he averaged a little over five carries per game and 18.25 yards per game. Since Week 8 he hasn't touched the ball at all, even appearing on the inactive list last week. Tony Grossi of the Cleveland Plain Dealer says that Harrison and Eric Mangini had a sit-down to air out the differences. Things may be better now.

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Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Brandon Jacobs' Fantasy Value Skyrockets

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-24T23:52:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report, NFL Start 'Em Sit 'Em

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

It's been a weekly crap-shoot trying to determine which New York Giant running back would perform better between Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Both have been dinged up and Bradshaw rarely practices more than once per week, but each rusher still trots out there and dutifully carries the ball each week.

Over the last four weeks Bradshaw has received 41.6% of the carries and 49.6% have gone to Jacobs. Their yardage has been a bit more varied as Bradshaw has rushed for 126 yards total and Jacobs 268 over those four games.

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Jason Elam's Job in Jeopardy as Falcons Bring in Kickers for Tryout

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-24T15:20:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Atlanta Falcons, NFC East

The players have the day off at Flowery Branch as Tuesday is a normal rest-day for the Falcons. But that didn't stop the team from bringing in four kickers to see if any of them might do a better job than Jason Elam.

Elam has been uncharacteristically off-center this season. He's connected on 10-of-16 field goal attempts for a career-worst 62.5% field goal percentage. He's also missed an extra point, an occurrence that's only happened three other times in his 17-year career.

Steve Hauschka, Sam Swank, Brandon Coutu and Shane Andrus we're all kicking today for the coaching staff. No news is known at this time whether any made an impression.

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

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-23T22:31:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Waiver Wire, NFL Injury Report

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.

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Favorable Remaining Schedule Could Aid Falcons' Playoff Push

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-23T11:34:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Atlanta Falcons, NFC East

After starting the season with four wins and only one loss, the Atlanta Falcons have lost four times in their last five games and see themselves sitting on the outside of the playoff picture, looking in. At 5-5, the Falcons have a lot of work to do to ensure a spot in the post-season, but the team hasn't given up yet and they have a favorable schedule ahead to work with.

Head Coach Mike Smith spent time in the locker room after a Sunday loss to the New York Giants talking about the tough stretch the Falcons have gone through and how the Falcons play four of their final six games in the friendly Georgia Dome, a place where they haven't lost all season. "What I told our team is that we've been through a long road in terms of the last six weeks", said Smith. "Four out of the six games we've played have been against teams that have been coming off the byes. I also told them that we are looking forward to having a three-game home stand."

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Damage Control: Ladell Betts Tears Two Knee Ligaments

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-23T09:41:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report

Did 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

o. 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.

o. 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.)

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The Once-Over: Week 11

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-21T11:30:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Predictions

With attention spans dwindling, we forgo full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. We call it The Once-Over.

The Early Games

New Orleans (9-0) at Tampa Bay (1-8): New Orleans was tested last week -- in fact, they've been tested in each of their last four games. Drew Brees has thrown seven interceptions and only six touchdown passes in those four games. You can expect the Saints to come out on Sunday and look to clean up their act a bit on offense as they play a divisional foe who doesn't have the arsenal to put up much of a fight.

Josh Freeman's play since taking over at quarterback is giving hope for the future in Tampa. He's thrown four touchdown passes and only two interceptions and seems to enjoy throwing to Kellen Winslow who has 11 receptions in his last two games. The Saints defense is a little beaten up, but should be able to hold off the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Pick: New Orleans

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Injuries to Watch: Week 11

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-20T12:19:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report

Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.

Quarterback

o. Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers - Roethlisberger is not listed on the injury report, but he sat out parts of practice on Thursday with his elbow wrapped. He is expected to play on Sunday, but questions of a sore arm have definitely surfaced.

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Footprints in the Snow: Phillies

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-19T10:00:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Phillies, NL East

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro made it a point not to bring back the exact same lineup in 2009 after winning the World Series in 2008. He succeeded in that goal by replacing the departed Pat Burrell with Raul Ibanez in left field. The strategy worked as the Phillies won their division and made it all the way to the World Series, eventually losing to the New York Yankees.

During this offseason, expect the mantra to be very similar to last winter. The one position in the lineup that likely will roll over is third base. The team declined their $5.5 million option on Pedro Feliz and will try and find an upgrade in the free-agent pool. If they fail to do so, they can always bring Feliz back to the team.

More Footprints in the Snow

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Footprints in the Snow: Mets

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-19T08:00:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Mets, NL East

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

At $149,373,987, the New York Mets had the National League's highest payroll in 2009. Their fourth place finish in the NL East, 23 games back in the standings, might suggest that the cash Omar Minaya dished out wasn't money well spent. A closer look reveals a team harassed all season by injuries and a group of hitters that could never find a long-term answer to produce runs.

In the outfield, Carlos Beltran had a potential All-Star season broken up, playing in only 81 games due to a knee injury. In fact, only Jeff Francoeur amassed more than 500 at-bats among Mets outfielders, and he was a mid-season import from the Atlanta Braves.

The infield wasn't spared either as mainstays Carlos Delgado and Jose Reyes had their seasons cut extremely short due to injuries. Even staff ace Johan Santana ended his season early with elbow issues.

The good news is that most of these players are expected to be healthy and ready to go for spring training.

More Footprints in the Snow

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Footprints in the Snow: Marlins

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-19T07:00:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Marlins, NL East

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Florida Marlins finished second in the NL East, six games behind the Philadelphia Phillies and were in the thick of the wild-card race up until the final weeks of the season. When you think of the bright, young pitching staff in Florida anchored by Josh Johnson and featuring Ricky Nolasco and Chris Volstad, you reason that the Marlins finished well in 2009 because of their hurlers. That notion is actually a fallacy -- only Johnson finished with an ERA under 4.00 among the starters who compiled at least 25 starts. The Marlins stayed in the race because of their hitting, plain and simple. Three hitters -- Dan Uggla, Hanley Ramirez and Cody Ross -- bopped 24 or more home runs, and as a team the Marlins finished fifth in the National League in runs scored.

The landscape in Miami might change a lot this offseason. Florida has already shipped under-performing Jeremy Hermida to Boston and many expect Uggla to be exchanged soon for a multitude of cheap, young players.

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Footprints in the Snow: Braves

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-19T06:00:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Braves, NL East

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The Atlanta Braves were alive in the wild-card race late in the season due to a powerful pitching rotation that featured six viable starting candidates (at least there were six at the end of the season). The Braves ranked third in the National League in team ERA with a 3.57 mark and had two 15-game winners in Derek Lowe and Javier Vazquez. They also ranked fourth in team batting average and sixth in runs scored even without a true cleanup hitter in the lineup.

If you examine their bullpen you'll also find two relievers who were in the top five in strikeouts among relief pitchers -- Mike Gonzalez with 90 and Rafael Soriano with 102. These relievers shared the closing duties for most of the season and each had ERA's below three to finish the year.

More Footprints in the Snow

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Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Fitzpatrick Named Starting Quarterback in Buffalo

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-19T04:00:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Sleepers, NFL Waiver Wire, NFL Injury Report, NFL Stash or Trash

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

To say this week in Buffalo has been tumultuous would be an understatement. Trent Edwards was told that he had lost his starting job to Ryan Fitzpatrick right before head coach Dick Jauron was fired. The next bit of information gave Edwards new hope as interim head coach Perry Fewell wanted to wait until Wednesday to make a decision. Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings wrote on Wednesday that Fewell had made the decision to go with Fitzpatrick.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is taking first-team reps at quarterback in Perry Fewell's first practice as interim head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Fewell confirmed this fact after practice. That bit of news confirms an NFL.com report from Wednesday - prior to the firing of Dick Jauron - that Fitzpatrick would be the club's starter.

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Michael Turner Not Ready to Rule Himself Out for Week 11

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-18T13:15:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen Michael Turner, who suffered a high-ankle sprain last Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, thinks it's too early to make a definitive call on his status for Sunday's matchup against the New York Giants.

"I'm not going to count myself out right now," said Turner. "It's only Wednesday. We'll know more as the week goes on."

On a conference call Wednesday, Falcons head coach Mike Smith announced that Turner would not participate in Atlanta's practice and is "day-to-day."

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Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Injuries Provide Rushing Opportunities

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-17T23:15:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report, NFL Stash or Trash, NFL Start 'Em Sit 'Em

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

Making the most of an opportunity is crucial for any athlete, no matter the sport. As Week 11 games approach, bumps and bruises have turned into full-blown, shut-down injuries -- thrusting backup players into starting roles. There are a few of these situations at the running back position this week. These can have major fantasy football implications. Just as in real sports, you need to take advantage of these opportunities to help your fantasy team.

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Pedro Martinez Plans to Pitch the Entire 2010 Season

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-17T10:00:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: Phillies, NL East

Pedro Martinez couldn't find a suitable employment opportunity prior to the 2009 Major League Baseball season, so he sat out until the Phillies came knocking in July. The 38-year-old pitcher started nine games, posting a record of 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA and helped the Phillies make a championship run that fell just a little short.

Through his agent, Fern Cuza, who spoke to FOXSports.com, the three-time Cy Young Award-winner has made it clear that he would like to pitch in 2010. And Martinez wants to pitch the entire season this time.

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Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Maurice Jones-Drew Takes Knee, Apolgizes Later

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-16T22:30:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report, NFL Stash or Trash

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

Maurice Jones-Drew owes me six points. In fact, he owes a whole lot of fantasy football owners a touchdown after kneeling on the one-yard line instead of scoring a go-ahead touchdown against the New York Jets.

With under two minutes left in the game, the Jets had no timeouts, a one-point lead and the Jacksonville Jaguars driving in the red zone. The Jets decided to let Jones-Drew score so they would have plenty of time for a game-winning drive of their own. Toni Monkovic of The New York Times gives Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio a ton of credit for foiling that plan.

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Damage Control: Brian Westbrook May Not Play Again This Season

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-16T10:32:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Injury Report

Did 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

o. Kyle Orton, Broncos - Orton sat out the second half on Sunday with an ankle injury. He'll be tested early this week and Chris Simms will take a lot of snaps with the first team as we wait to see how severe Orton's injury is.

Running Back

o. Ronnie Brown, Dolphins - Brown limped off of the field during the third quarter of Sunday's game. X-rays were negative, but the MRI results have not yet been seen. Brown is believed to have a severe ankle sprain, and unfortunately for the Dolphins, he may not be ready to play in Thursday's Week 11 game. Look for a large dose of Ricky Williams.

o. Brian Westbrook, Eagles - Westbrook was knocked out of the game on Sunday in the fourth quarter with another concussion. His season may be in jeopardy.

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The Once-Over: Week 10

Knox Bardeen — 2009-11-13T22:23:00 00:00

by Knox Bardeen

Filed under: NFL Predictions

With attention spans dwindling, we forgo full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. We call it The Once-Over.

The Early Games

Denver (6-2) at Washington (2-6): Denver has lost its last two games and has shown an inability to score against good defenses. Washington's defense is ranked fifthh in the NFL, and that spells a much closer matchup than two teams with such opposite records should be involved in. It's extremely tough to throw against Washington, so Knowshon Moreno becomes a very important factor on Sunday. If he does well, Denver wins -- If Moreno falters, Denver loses.

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