FanHouse Carson Palmer

It's been a tough stretch of games for owners of elite quarterbacks, starting with a Week 5 that saw Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler on the sideline and going through last week's off-week for Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger. Rest easy, because the rigorous fantasy games featuring backup QBs are over.

This week, only Brett Favre gets a seat on the bench in terms of QBs you'd want to use in normal-sized leagues. Next week, you just have to make it without Matt Schaub. For owners of the seven QBs in the previous paragraph, it's smooth sailing unless an injury strikes.

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Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Studs

Carson Palmer, QB Cincinnati (20-24, 233 yards, 5 TDs) -- There was an interesting moment during "Hard Knocks" on HBO this year when Palmer was giving his center, Kyle Cook, a little bit of grief about the smell that Carson had on his hand after taking snaps. It was essentially boys being boys, but Palmer played it well and had some fun at the expense of Cook.

Bengals 45, Bears 10. It was 45-3 before the Bears finally got into the end zone, but the game had long been over at that point. It was one of those games that makes you wonder -- were the Bengals that good or the Bears that bad? As is usually the case when you ask that question, it was a combination of both. You have to give the Bengals credit, especially Carson Palmer for his precision passing. Well, really, the entire team deserves loads of credit.

Still, this game was more about how pathetic the Bears played. For a team with Super Bowl aspirations, that was a simply despicable attempt at playing football on nearly every front. More games like that, and the playoffs won't even be a possibility come late November.

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

Risers of the Week: Alex Smith and Vernon Davis were first-round picks of the 49ers in consecutive seasons (Smith was first overall in 2005, Davis went sixth overall in 2006). They were supposed to be the main building blocks of a highly successful passing attack in the Bay Area for years to come. Instead, each was a colossal bust for several years. Sunday, 49ers fans -- and fantasy owners of Davis -- were treated with a much-belated version of what was originally planned.

Once Smith took over for the struggling Shaun Hill, he threw three touchdown passes, all to his dreadlocked tight end. Davis is clearly a must-start every week at this point. Smith wouldn't be a QB1, but would certainly be worth owning if handed the keys. Wait and see.

CINCINNATI -- As losses go, this one was a stinker. Flying high off yet another last-minute intra-divisional win, the Bengals showed up for a home game Sunday against the Texans and had just about everything go wrong. They lost, 28-17, most important, and they also saw key defensive lineman Antwan Odom and Domata Peko go down with injuries. Odom's is a torn Achilles' tendon, which means they've lost him for the season. Bad, bad loss.

But the message Bengals coach Marvin Lewis delivered to his team in the wake of this bad loss was the same, simple two-word mantra he delivered on the first night of the season, after a goofy last-minute bounce cost the Bengals a game against the Denver Broncos:

"Don't flinch."

I usually put Peyton Manning at the top of the QB column, but with the Colts off in Week 6, I can't do that this week, can I? The new No. 1 is as clear a choice as Manning usually is, since he has a fantastic matchup. Drew Brees, a great talent and one of two QBs (along with Manning) that I want on my team over all other contenders, has a terrible matchup against the Giants. That sinks his ranking this week and places him out of the top five.

1. Aaron Rodgers, GB vs. DET
2. Tom Brady, NE vs. TEN
3. Matt Schaub, HOU at CIN
4. Donovan McNabb, PHI at OAK
5. Matt Ryan, ATL vs. CHI

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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

• Michael Vick, Eagles - Vick took a hard hit to the ribs and had X-rays. The results came back negative.

• Peyton Manning, Colts - Manning has a sore knee after Sunday's win. The injury isn't serious, which is good news. Better news comes as the Colts now enter a bye week.

• Kyle Boller, Rams - Boller was knocked out of Sunday's game with a concussion. He'll have tests done on Tuesday to see when he can return to action.

• Carson Palmer, Bengals - Palmer injured his left (non-throwing hand) thumb on Sunday. the Bengals don't seem too worried about the injury.

Cincinnati (3-1) really could be 4-0 and would be, if not for the Madden-esque TD reception by Denver's Brandon Stokley in Week 1. Since that game, the Bengals traveled to Green Bay and beat a heavily-favored Packer team, took down world champion Pittsburgh at home, and just barely survived a letdown game in Cleveland last week.

Baltimore (3-1) feels like they should be 4-0, victimized by an iffy penalty in last week's game at Foxboro (if the game was at home, are the Ravens not penalized?). With Pittsburgh lurking, each of these Cincinnati-Baltimore games are critical in battling for a playoff spot. Most people see the Ravens as a contender, but the Bengals as a pretender.

Is that fair?

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If your fantasy football team is off to a rough start, one of the best remedies is FanHouse's cram session podcast. Is it time to abandon Eddie Royal? Will Matt Forte play up to his first-round billing? And what should you do about that frustrating Terrell Owens? Get answers to these questions and much more as Tom Herrera and Matt Snyder dish out advice heading into Week 4. Listen up after the jump.

It's another session of "Sink or Swim" Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekly look at the underachievers still lurking on many fantasy rosters. You've got the tough choices to make and we help you decide which direction to take. Do you cut the bait or give 'em one more chance to swim?

We all had our favorite sleepers heading into the season. Happens every single year and you're doing something wrong if you don't take a flier on a sleeper or have your eyes locked in on a few. However, the hard part always comes a few weeks into the season when roster space starts evaporating due to the waiver-wire wonders. When is it time to give up already and admit you were wrong on your so-called sleeper?

I wish it was an easy answer, but unfortunately it's not. And so today, we ponder the fates of Josh Morgan, James Davis and Chris Henry. All of whom caught our eye as potential sleepers that have yet to pay off.