FanHouse ChesterTaylor

For some reason, head coach Brad Childress thought letting Brett Favre and his 40-year-old arm sling the ball all over the yard gave the Vikings the best chance to win against the Steelers Sunday. He was so sure of this, in fact, that the Ole Gunslinger ended up doing it 51 times.

On two occasions in the fourth quarter that decision led directly to Steelers points. Defensive end Brett Keisel stripped Favre as he dropped back and linebacker LaMarr Woodley took the fumble to the house. And with just over a minute to play and Minnesota trailing by three, a Favre screen pass skipped off the hands of Chester Taylor, into the lap of linebacker Keyaron Fox, and 82 yards later, ball game.

Here's a question: why not give the ball to Adrian Peterson more than 18 times? Since, you know, he came into the game leading the league in rushing, and fresh off hanging 143 rushing yards on the Ravens. Didn't happen, and instead of seeing Purple Jesus tread defenders all afternoon, we only got to see it once.

Video hit-and-run after the jump.

Brian Westbrook is going to enjoy himself as he returns to both the gridiron and the Top 5 in the FanHouse fantasy football running back rankings for Week 5.

In Week 3, Brian Westbrook had the pleasure of sitting out and watching his heir apparent run wild on a terrible Kansas City defense (who I like to call the Swiss Chiefs). In Week 4, the Eagles had a bye week, and Westbrook went ahead and got himself healthy. He's also likely a bit motivated to prove he's still the superior back in Philly, as he's always done after missing a game or two due to injury. In Week 5, the Eagles play the Buccaneers, who are even worse defensively than the Chiefs. The Bucs are allowing 4.8 yards per carry, over 170 rushing yards per game and 28 points per game.

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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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With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

Minnesota made it back to the playoffs last year, only to watch Tarvaris Jackson lay an egg in a first-round loss to the Eagles. That forced the team to finally admit that Jackson may not be the answer, so in the offseason the Vikings have gone out and added a quarterback, just like the fans wanted. But by trading for Sage Rosenfels, Minnesota is hoping to prove they are smarter than the rest of the league, as Rosenfels was not looked as a playoff-caliber quarterback by other teams. So Minnesota heads into the draft with a similar situation to last year--a Super Bowl caliber team led by a less than Super Bowl caliber quarterback.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

Saturday Games

Atlanta at Arizona (4:30 PM ET): I said a few days ago that I thought this was the perfect situation for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (rookie play-caller, first playoff game, up against a struggling team with a spotty defense). In reality, it is really a perfect match-up for both teams. Atlanta gets to go on the road against the only playoff team they'd want to play. And in the past six weeks, Arizona has defeated only two teams, who have a combined record of 6-26.

For the Cardinals, they are getting an inexperienced playoff team at home, where they always seem to play better. Think about it -- out of the Eagles, Falcons, Giants, Vikings, and Panthers, the Cards would have almost certainly picked Atlanta to face in in their first-ever home playoff game in Arizona.

Yet I think Atlanta pulls this one out. Not counting the passing explosion against the Seahawks in Week 17, Kurt Warner has been off lately, and now the Cardinals have to deal with all this Larry Fitzgerald off the field stuff. That actually brings me to an off topic: You know how we live in a country where you are innocent until proven guilty? If you're an athlete (or public figure), you are guilty as soon as anyone accuses you of something. It is rather ridiculous.

Pick: Atlanta

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

Saturday

Baltimore (9-5) at Dallas (9-5): This is just the start of what should be now called "The Best Week 15 Slate of Games of All Time." Both these teams desperately need a win for playoff implications, with the Steelers, Eagles, and Falcons all watching verrrry intently in their own regard. Tony Romo and company are averaging 23.7 points per game while Ray Lewis and his revived wrecking crew are giving up a stingy 15.2. In the famous words of Jack Nicholson, "Something's gotta give." I think the Dallas defense, who has locked down the last three games and is allowing just over 12 points in those games, rattles Joe Flacco and the 'Boys move a step closer to becoming the 2007 New York Giants of the playoffs.

Tony, remember this -- even Phil Mickelson can win a major championship every now and again.

Pick: Dallas

It's hard to fathom that as I type it, but after watching the Vikings dismantle the Cardinals, is it time to start considering them one of the NFC's favorites to be a Super Bowl team?

This was one of those wins that makes you stand up and notice. Admittedly everything went right for the Vikings: they got an early lead, forced the Cardinals to become one dimensional and then teed off on Kurt Warner. But by holding the Cardinals under 20 points for the first time since Week 3, they showed that this is a better team than we may have expected.

They've had the defense all year, with a front four that is nearly unblockable. Add in Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor and you've got one of the best running games in the league. But now that Tarvaris Jackson is actually throwing accurate passes to Vikings receivers, it's suddenly possible to start dreaming of seeing purple in Tampa this February.

A pivotal game in the NFC North saw a pivotal series of plays twice swing the momentum in the middle of the second quarter. The Bears were faced with a third and nine on the Minnesota 45 yard line, when Kyle Orton appeared to be sacked for a huge loss. The Vikings, however, were off-sides on the play. On the third and four play, Matt Forte was stuffed on the run. Of course, during the play, Benny Sapp committed a blatantly stupid penalty by whacking Rashied Davis in the head multiple times clearly after the whistle. After the 15 yards were assessed, Forte busted through the Vikings' defense for a 26 yard gain and was knocked out of bounds at the one yard line.

Considering the score -- 7-3 at the time -- the Bears were on the verge of a major confidence boost. Scoring a touchdown to build a 14-3 lead on the road, especially after such a stupid penalty by the Vikes, would have been beyond huge.

It's a good thing for the Vikings the Bears coaching staff brought their F-game.

With attention spans dwindling, we forego full game-by-game previews to give you the essentials you need to know about every contest this glorious NFL weekend. Click here to go back in time.

The 1s

Denver (5-4) at Atlanta (6-3): It isn't a coincidence that the two breakout teams this season have a ton of similarities, mostly with quarterback. In the five wins for Denver, Jay Cutler has had passer ratings of 93.3, 96.1, 107.9, 109.6 and 137.5. In the Falcons' six wins, Matt Ryan has racked up ratings of 94.1, 116.1, 120.6, 134, 137, and 138.4. On the flip side, in all seven of the combined losses with these two, neither quarterback had a rating higher than 77.8. Why did I clutter your screen with all these numbers? To tell you that for either of these teams to win, their young passer has to have a great game. I'm picking the Falcons because it is a lot easier to free up the air attack with Michael Turner as your running back compared to a dude that enjoys stealing luggage.

Pick: Atlanta

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.