FanHouse Chris Johnson

As a man who lives and works in Green Bay, Wis., Aaron Rodgers knows. He's not blind or deaf. He sees the highlights, browses the web, listens to the talking heads. Like each and every one of his green-and-gold-clad neighbors, Rodgers is aware that the 2009 NFL season has been a turbulence-free cloud surf for Brett Favre and the Vikings and a brutal, muddy slog for his own Packers. You could actually argue that nobody knows this better than Rodgers, since no one else in town has (presumably) been sacked 43 times this year.

But since this is a day on which we're supposed to appreciate all the good things we have in life and take a little break from dwelling on the bad, I hereby invite the good people of Green Bay to fry up some Thanksgiving cheese curds, sit back and watch their man Rodgers dismantle the Detroit Lions. And as you watch, take a second to think to yourselves, "Hey, we could have it a lot worse."

Marion Barber came into the season regarded as a definite starter in all fantasy leagues. Though owners likely nabbed him in the second round, he has still be a pretty sizable bust in all formats. Coming off a 99-yard performance against Washington is good, though the lost fumble and lack of a touchdown might still make owners reluctant to trust him on Thanksgiving.

Worry not, my friends. Barber gets to face a porous Raiders run defense that ranks 30th in the NFL in rushing in terms of yardage. They have also given up an NFL-high 16 rushing touchdowns. Expect Barber to get nasty on Thanksgiving afternoon, even if you're napping from the tryptophan.

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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

Could we all please stop telling Rex Ryan how to live his life? I mean, I think we should stop telling everybody how to live their lives, but we can start with Rex. Poor guy has coached nine games in the NFL and has already been called everything from a breath of fresh air to a blowhard to a crybaby. Yeah, in case you haven't heard the last thing on the Jets' head coach is that he cried during a team meeting Monday morning. The New York Post broke the story, and it became a big deal in New York. Ryan, to his credit, brought of box of tissues to his Wednesday news conference, joked that he'd just scored a sponsorship deal with Kleenex and said, "I'm man enough to be me."

"I'll be true to myself," Ryan said. "I'm always going to be, and I said that from day one. If I don't fit the stereotype of coach-speak or anything else, so be it. I'm always going to be myself."

Can I say I hope Ryan is reading this when I type, "Thank goodness?"

With nine games in the books, Ricky Williams -- despite being behind Ronnie Brown on the Dolphins' depth chart -- sits at 13th in fantasy points among running backs. Brown is ninth, so the Dolphins have themselves a pretty dynamic duo. For Week 11, they get to feast on the Carolina Panthers' 25th-ranked run defense Thursday night.

And Ricky's left alone in the backfield. With Brown nursing a foot injury, Williams will shoulder the bulk of the Miami offense. He's quite capable, as we've seen in spurts this season. He had 20 carries for over 100 yards last week. This week, he's gonna get the ball more often and run wild. Only the new "big three" are better options.

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In this past week's fantasy football tailgate (every Sunday from 10:30 AM ET to kickoff, come check it out!), someone asked us what we thought the first round would be for next season's drafts. Since we never want to disappoint, let's check it out. Here is one man's opinion on how the first round will shake out next year in standard scoring formats. This is using what we've seen thus far in 2009, plus what I expect to see the rest of the way. The first pick isn't really a secret, if you've been reading me the past two weeks.

1. Chris Johnson, RB, Titans - As I said, I haven't been secretive about this. He's gonna end up with 2,500 yards from scrimmage and close to 20 touchdowns this year. And he's only getting better.

Each Monday of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.

Two weeks ago, the Carolina Panthers went into Arizona and picked Kurt Warner off five times en route to an easy victory over the defending NFC champions. Some began to fear the old man was beginning to lose his touch. If he did, what would happen to the Cardinals' juggernaut of a fantasy football unit?

All they've done since then is score 72 points in two games and looked better than ever.

The Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans entered the fourth quarter Sunday knotted at 17-all. Considering what happened in the last 15 minutes of the game, Bills head coach Dick Jauron and his team might have been better served to leave early.

When the dust settled, the Bills headed home with a 41-17 loss. They were also likely saddled with nightmares involving Tennessee running back Chris Johnson and the rejuvenated Titans defense.

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In Monday morning's Reality Check this week, I proclaimed that I liked Chris Johnson more than Adrian Peterson -- and everyone else, obviously -- for the rest of the season and in 2010 as the top fantasy running back. In Week 10, I'm already posed with a test. Peterson gets to square off against the hapless Lions. Julius Jones was a stud against them last week and Peterson's coming off a bye week.

Of course, Johnson is taking on the league's worst run defense at home. The Bills allow 5.1 yards per carry, 173.6 yards rushing per game and have given up 12 rushing touchdowns. I'll be surprised if Johnson comes in with less than 150 yards and two touchdowns, but I'm expecting closer to 200 and three. Seriously.

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

That last thing that anyone wants in Detroit, or in the fantasy football world if you own either of these players, is for Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson to have problems getting along. Unfortunately, cameras caught the two young stars in heated debate on the sideline on Sunday as the Lions were losing to Seattle. At least, one side of the argument was heated, Tom Kowalski of Michigan Live says that Johnson was flat-out ignoring what Stafford had to say.