FanHouse Brent Celek

Talk about two tight ends headed in different directions -- Vernon Davis and John Carlson have similar situations with offensive lines that need help protecting the quarterback. But Davis isn't going to stick back and help protect Alex Smith. Carlson, on the other hand, is being asked to block a lot these days. If Carlson wasn't facing a Lions defense this week, he'd be ranked a lot lower than where he sits.

Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is near the top of every major statistical category that quarterbacks track. Even though Manning has always put up incredible numbers, Dallas Clark said this week, "You probably never thought he (Manning)could raise his level of play, but he has." Not that Manning needed another reason to target Clark, but I bet Clark gets an extra red zone look or two just as a debt of gratitude from the All-Pro quarterback.

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Next week there will be a game between the two best teams in the NFC East, and it's not going to involve the defending division champion New York Giants. In beating the Giants to a pulp Sunday, 40-17, the Eagles -- and the Dallas Cowboys, who beat Seattle at home -- have sent the G-Men back to third place. New York has now lost three straight games, while the Eagles won their second in a row after an embarrassing loss in Oakland.

Leading the way for the Eagles was Donovan McNabb, who barely broke a sweat in destroying the Giants' patchwork secondary. He completed 17-of-23 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns. He continues to show a strong chemistry with DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Brent Celek, who combined for 11 catches, 186 yards and three scores.

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

Sunday's Top Riser: We've seen this Tom Brady before, and it was in 2007 when he threw for almost 5,000 yards and totaled 50 touchdown passes. So far in 2009, he'd been good, but not great. And we drafted Brady for great in fantasy football. Enter the Tennessee Titans and the worst pass defense in football. Brady, despite playing in a quasi-blizzard, completed 29-of-34 passes for 380 yards and six touchdowns. That's all he'll need to get that swagger back. Next week against Tampa Bay, he's going to put on a show across the pond in London's Wembley Stadium, and he's a bonafide top-three fantasy QB again -- you can take that to the bank.

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There are plenty of solid options to be had this weekend at the tight end position. Sure, Dallas Clark, Jason Witten and Vernon Davis are all on the bye week. If you need to replace one of those guys this week, you'll be able to get by via playing the matchups correctly. (As a side note: it just feels right to have Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates back atop the fantasy tight end hierarchy)

Both Gonzo and Gates have prime-time favorable matchups that they should very well dominate. On the heels of his monster game against the Eagles, Kellen Winslow has caught our eye and deserves even more attention based upon the soft matchup against the Panthers. It hasn't hurt that Josh Johnson is locked in on Winslow as his new favorite target. Chris Cooley and Brent Celek are also eying down cupcake matchups. You're in good shape if you're starting any of these guys.

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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?

The fantasy football landscape is starting to shake out a bit, and it's time to change the way you look at some players. With that in mind, we've listed two of the hottest receivers in football as No. 1 WRs this week.

No need to say much else -- you know how the game works by now. Just remember to stop by Fantasy FanHouse before game time on Sunday, as we'll be answering your fantasy questions from 10:30 AM ET until the first kickoff.

Every week in this space we've been bragging about the abundance of depth at the tight end position. Well, thanks to the bye weeks the pickings have gotten just a little slimmer. Or maybe, it's just that some of the hot starts have cooled off a little. Anyhow, prepare to yawn as it's another week and yet again Dallas Clark clutches onto the top spot. Until we see proof otherwise, that's that.

Tony Gonzalez returns from the bye week, but faces a tough defense in San Francisco. Surely, the 49ers will be amped to stop the run which may lead to Gonzo slipping in a nice game. John Carlson returns to the upper echelon this week and should be primed to get back into good graces against a soft Jaguars defense at home. If Jason Witten can't somehow exploit the Chiefs' horrid defense, then you may want to press the panic button. And as for the rest of the ranks, follow along...

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

Early on Wednesday morning the San Francisco 49ers and Michael Crabtree, their first-round draft pick, came to an agreement -- ending a long holdout. Financial details haven't been disclosed, and quite honestly aren't relevant to the fantasy football GM. The important question -- when will Crabtree be ready to play?

Matt Maiocco of The Press-Democrat says that it may be a few weeks before Crabtree gets onto the field.

The 49ers are expecting a two-week roster exemption, thus buying them some time before they are required to release a player to create a spot on the team's 53-man roster.

This will allow Crabtree to practice with the team -- something he's supposed to start doing today -- while the team decides who they'll cut once they activate the receiver.

We've been down this road before. We get it -- Dallas Clark is distancing himself as the clear-cut top tight end option in fantasy football. So, don't expect us to bump him from his lofty perch just yet. Really the only other tight end keeping the pace might be Brent Celek, but he's on a bye this week.

Well, insert Jason Witten to finally break out in a big way against the Broncos this weekend. We saw that the Cowboys were comfortable playing it safe on MNF with a lot of Tony Romo dump-offs to Witten. That was good enough for Witten to rope in nine passes. Of course, he didn't find the end zone, but that's coming on Sunday. Welcome back to the elite, Mr. Witten.

As for the rest of the ranks...

1. Dallas Clark, IND vs SEA
2. Jason Witten, DAL @ DEN
3. Chris Cooley, WAS vs TB
4. Jeremy Shockey, NO vs NYJ
5. Greg Olsen, CHI vs DET

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If you're still having trouble finding a decent tight end option at this point, you're doing something wrong. The tight end position has been consistently deep and productive over the first two weeks of the season. The Big Four is becoming more like the Big Dozen -- well, maybe.

There's simply no shying away from what Dallas Clark did on Monday night. He is essentially a No. 2 wide receiver for this Colts offense with Anthony Gonzalez down and out. However, you already knew that, right? And so, we must stick to our guns for yet another week with Mr. Clark leading the tight end rankings.

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Fantasy FanHouse's "Bust a Move" segment provides quick-hitting insight on the most popular adds and drops across Fleaflicker fantasy leagues between Tuesday and Wednesday of each week. Knowing who is on the move during this 24-hour period often provides a valuable edge with regard to outperforming or underperforming players, injuries, and depth chart shifts. So do as the man says, "Don't just stand there..."

The Adds

Mario Manningham (WR, Giants, 8,522 adds) -- Even the biggest Michigan haters (read: OSU, MSU, and WVU fans) cannot turn their backs on the Giants' passing game. With 150 yards and a score on Sunday night, Manningham is currently the fourth best receiver in the league. If you new Super Mario owners would so desire, you can borrow my old fantasy team name, "Manningham Steamroller."