FanHouse AntonioPittman

For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.

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The Rams were a significantly better team on Sunday than they had been the past three games. That team was easily worse than the Detroit Lions, but it seemed like Steven Jackson being back changed the complexion of everything, including the defense and special teams. Well, everything except the man taking snaps.

Jackson ran the ball 21 times and gained 94 yards. Josh Brown and Donnie Jones were excellent kicking and punting, and the defense held the Miami Dolphins to only 16 points. Alas, it still wasn't enough for a Rams victory. Marc Bulger -- despite good run support from Jackson and Antonio Pittman -- was simply dreadful. He connected on less than half his pass attempts and was intercepted three times -- including a game-ender on their last-gasp attempt, when he badly overthrew Derek Stanley.

A head-to-head battle between the top two draft picks was also of interest. Jake Long was squaring off against Chris Long. Considering Chris didn't record a single stat, it would appear Jake got the best of Howie's kid. It was a close matchup, though, as Chris wasn't severely abused by any means. Both have worlds of potential in this league moving forward.

Steven Jackson is easily the best player the Rams have, when healthy. Of course, he's not healthy at this point, as evidenced by his lackluster at best performance Sunday. Apparently he wasn't as confident as he led everyone to believe leading up to the game.

When the Rams' offense trotted out for their first series of the day Sunday, Jackson was in the huddle. But before the Rams broke the huddle for their first play, Antonio Pittman had replaced Jackson. What happened?

With his strained right thigh muscle not 100 percent, Jackson said he wasn't comfortable running the play once he heard the call.

"The play call was really more of an outside play, a cutback play," (Jim) Haslett said. "He didn't think he was ready for that play. ... It kind of caught everybody off guard."

The entire backfield was in flux for the game, as Antonio Pittman and Travis Minor also suffered injuries. The Rams offense was handcuffed at that point. They had Jackson and Pittman fight through injuries, but they really couldn't advance the ball via the ground as a team.

Steven Jackson is easily the best player the Rams have, when healthy. Of course, he's not healthy at this point, as evidenced by his lackluster at best performance Sunday. Apparently he wasn't as confident as he led everyone to believe leading up to the game.

When the Rams' offense trotted out for their first series of the day Sunday, Jackson was in the huddle. But before the Rams broke the huddle for their first play, Antonio Pittman had replaced Jackson. What happened?

With his strained right thigh muscle not 100 percent, Jackson said he wasn't comfortable running the play once he heard the call.

"The play call was really more of an outside play, a cutback play," (Jim) Haslett said. "He didn't think he was ready for that play. ... It kind of caught everybody off guard."

The entire backfield was in flux for the game, as Antonio Pittman and Travis Minor also suffered injuries. The Rams offense was handcuffed at that point. They had Jackson and Pittman fight through injuries, but they really couldn't advance the ball via the ground as a team.

How did you enjoy the Edgerrin James era? That's past tense for a reason, because in one week the torch was emphatically passed. We figured it might happen this week, but not like this. Not only did rookie Tim Hightower steal Edge's job, he was handed 22 carries to Edge's zero. That's right, not even in trash time of a blowout victory did Edge see the field. J.J. Arrington even had 11 touches.

The other main story-line was the Cardinals seizing a major lockdown of the NFC West. Had the Rams won this game, they'd have only trailed the Cards by a game ... sporting the head-to-head win and facing the Jets and Niners the next two games. This really would have been a divisional battle had the Rams held serve at home. They even stormed out of the gate with a 7-0 lead after one quarter, courtesy of an 80 yard bomb from Marc Bulger to Derek Stanley -- much to the chagrin of Torry Holt and Donnie Avery fantasy football owners.

Steven Jackson looked like the best early reason to make Jim Haslett another cool million ... then the NFL stepped in and decided that Haslett's contract wasn't good.

Of course, with the news that Jackson has been officially deactivated, it may not matter.

Yes, that's correct -- the suddenly white hot St. Louis Rams are now without their best player as they head into a Week 8 matchup, because Jackson won't be playing. He was heavily rumored to be "85% unlikely to start" all this morning and now NFL.com confirms that the Rams have put him on the inactive list.

Should be fun for Marc Bulger and Haslett. Okay, maybe it'll be fun for Antonio Pittman, but he's the only one.

Fantasy Spin: Pittman is a last second gamble if you're desperate for a low end RB2 or a flex play, but for the most part, the Rams running game should be avoided today. Obviously bench Jackson. Donnie Avery suddenly looks pretty appealing as a WR3 and Torry Holt should be heavily involved in the offense as well.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Arizona Cardinals

Anquan Boldin - After the last Sunday's vicious hit, Boldin came away with a fractured sinus membrane, which I believe means he broke his face. While he is lucky that is the worst of it after what looked like a neck injury, he is very unlikely to play on Sunday at this point. It has not yet been ruled out however, so keep an eye on his progress.

The Baltimore Ravens

Willis McGahee - McGahee continues to keep things interesting as now he has injured ribs, which limited his playing time on Monday night. His efforts in practice this week have been limited, but he did practice on Friday, so he should be good to at least split carries.

The Buffalo Bills

Roscoe Parrish - Parrish is definitely out for three to five more weeks with a thumb injury. While this is not material for many people, it opens the door for James Hardy to gain some playing time and for Lee Evans to put up a couple of his sporadic breakout games.

The Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart - Stewart is still on the injury report, but he will be fine to go this week.

Jake Delhomme - Delhomme is listed as probable with a thigh injury, but he will be ready for week 5. With Steve Smith back and Muhsin Muhammad getting involved, Delhomme's value is on the up and up.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - After making the injury report last week with an ankle injury, Turner is now probable with a shoulder injury. He should be fine as he practiced full speed Thursday, but it might not be a bad time to start thinking about selling high on Turner.

The Baltimore Ravens

Willis McGahee - In a controversial development, the Ravens are speculating that the Browns pulled a "Sweep the leg Johnny" on McGahee and purposefully inflicted harm upon him. McGahee continues to struggle with his swollen, cut eye and although he is listed as probable, he has not made much progress. The game is Monday night though, so hopefully he'll be ready, but this is worse than it sounds.

The Buffalo Bills

Roscoe Parrish - Parrish is definitely out for four to six weeks with a thumb injury. While this is not material for many people, it may open the door for James Hardy to gain some playing time and for Lee Evans to put up a couple of his sporadic breakout games.

The Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart - Stewart was limited in practice Thursday to rest his foot injury, but he should be there come Sunday.

Every week when the dinner bell rings on Friday evening, we'll be here to provide you a comprehensive injury report for the NFL weekend to follow. For those injuries that go right down to the wire, drop by our Fantasy Fanhouse expert live chat from 10am to 1pm EST every Sunday and we'll take care of you on those bloody game-time decisions. As always, please feel free to chime in with opinions, updates, and rumors in the comments.

The Atlanta Falcons

Michael Turner - After making the injury report last week with an ankle injury, Turner is now probable with a shoulder injury. He should be fine as he practiced full speed Thursday, but it might not be a bad time to start thinking about selling high on Turner.

The Baltimore Ravens

Willis McGahee - In a controversial development, the Ravens are speculating that the Browns pulled a "Sweep the leg Johnny" on McGahee and purposefully inflicted harm upon him. McGahee continues to struggle with his swollen, cut eye and although he is listed as probable, he has not made much progress. The game is Monday night though, so hopefully he'll be ready, but this is worse than it sounds.

The Buffalo Bills

Roscoe Parrish - Parrish is definitely out for four to six weeks with a thumb injury. While this is not material for many people, it may open the door for James Hardy to gain some playing time and for Lee Evans to put up a couple of his sporadic breakout games.

The Carolina Panthers

Jonathan Stewart - Stewart was limited in practice Thursday to rest his foot injury, but he should be there come Sunday.

So according to Adam Schefter (he's awfully busy these days), Darren McFadden sits atop the Rams' draft board. Guess what? He sits atop a lot of teams' draft boards.

This piece of information, paired with the fact that Steven Jackson is entering a contract year and has yet to begin negotiations with the team, has created a little stir. But there's still no chance in hell -- and I'll bet one of my robust FanHouse checks on this -- that the Rams draft him. It's not going to happen.

For starters, they'll get a deal done with Jackson. He's an elite back who can run, catch, and block, and he's a hard-worker with good character entering his prime. You don't let guys like that walk. They've also got two draft picks from last year, Brian Leonard and Antonio Pittman, sitting behind Jackson, making for a nice trio. The team isn't giving up on them so easily.

If this report is even true (and truth is a precious, scarce commodity at this time of year), the top player on a team's board isn't necessarily who they'll take. A lot of people make draft strategy a black and white issue with need vs. best player available, but the smartest teams (not that I'm saying the Rams are one of them -- huzzah) pair the two, meaning they'll find similar value at a position of greater need.

But I still don't think this report is true. More likely, I'd say they're trying to bait the Jets or Raiders into trading up to their spot. We'll see if either bites.