FanHouse EyeOnThePrize

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

Joe Nedney is only 11th in kicker points, which means he's useful as a low-end kicker in most leagues.

The thing about Nedney, though, is that he doesn't miss often. He's 26-of-29 on field goals this season, and hasn't missed an extra point. The reason he's not higher in scoring is because he hasn't had as many opportunities as the higher scorers (he's 12th in FG attempts).

Nedney's getting to play the hapless Rams indoors in St. Louis this weekend. The Rams are near the bottom in scoring defense and have allowed 29 field goals, which places them 27th in the league.

In fact, I'm making him number one. No guts, no glory.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Joe Nedney, at StL
2. Stephen Gostkowski, vs. ARI
3. Rob Bironas, vs. PIT
4. John Carney, vs. CAR
5. Jason Elam, at MIN

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

The Washington Redskins are really scuffling right now. Since the last time they played this week's opponent, the Philadelphia Eagles, the Redskins have lost six games. Their three wins in that stretch were against the dregs of the NFL (Browns, Lions, Seahawks). All of the wins were close, and in none of those games did they score more than 25 points.

They are getting worse. In the last six games, they've won only once, a 20-17 squeaker over Seattle.

The Eagles, on the other hand, are firing on all cylinders. Their defense is a takeaway machine when playing well, and I like them to capitalize on this momentum and post giant fantasy numbers in Washington this weekend as the Redskins go from a 6-2 team to irrelevant.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Eagles, at WAS
2. Cowboys, vs. BAL
3. Steelers, at TEN
4. Titans, vs. PIT
5. Ravens, at DAL

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

Just as I said in the quarterback rankings, this is a crazy game we play -- this fantasy football. What if I told you, heading into the season, that Pierre Thomas, Matt Forte, Steve Slaton, and DeAngelo Williams would trail only Adrian Peterson in the championship week running back rankings?

I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have been back here to read any follow-ups.

Why Pierre? That's easy. The Lions are an embarrassment against the run and Reggie Bush is out of the way. There's more to it than that, however. I've been watching Thomas the past few weeks, and had a special glimpse of him last week against my favorite team. He's got everything a featured back needs. He's not just a between the tackles guy, like Deuce McAllister has become, and he's not just an outside the tackles guy like Bush. He's both. The Saints have to leave him on the field pretty much all game now, and they are playing the Lions. He's going to light up the fantasy scoreboard ... again.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Adrian Peterson, vs. ATL
2. Pierre Thomas, at DET
3. Matt Forte, vs. GB
4. Steve Slaton, at OAK
5. DeAngelo Williams, at NYG

It's playoff time! In what should be championship week, FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to your possible lineup dilemmas. If you need further assistance, please feel free to shoot us an email question.

I often write about the topsy-turvy fantasy football world. It's a love/hate relationship. You love it when it works out for you, and hate it when it doesn't.

This week's twist of fate? A New England quarterback is going to lead teams to their fantasy championship, and it's Matt Cassel. There have been ups and downs, but Cassel has shown himself plenty able to exploit poor defenses and turn that into monstrous fantasy points. The Arizona Cardinals are a terrible defense on the road, and they just allowed four touchdown passes to Tarvaris Jackson at home.

That post-Week 1 waiver priority move is going to pay big dividends if you are still playing this week and own Cassel.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Drew Brees, at DET
2. Peyton Manning, at JAX
3. Matt Cassel, vs. ARI
4. Jay Cutler, vs. BUF
5. Donovan McNabb, at WAS

So, once again, Reggie Bush tweaked his knee and Pierre Thomas took full advantage. He exploded for 25+ points in most leagues, and hopefully you had him active. Moving forward, it's pretty obvious that even though the Saints would like to use Bush more, his knee just isn't totally healthy yet. In the meantime, they are finding Thomas can be an every down back in this league.

That's not all we have to discuss today, not in the least. We'll be piggy-backing the NFL FanHouse 1:00 chat and kick off right when it ends -- because we know that you definitely don't want to do any work after lunch on a Friday. No way, not with the fantasy playoff season in high gear and the NFL playoff picture remaining completely out of focus.

Make sure to check out our player rankings and other analysis lower down on the Fantasy FanHouse page, and we'll help fill in any gaps or answer any questions about our top-notch analysis you may have.

It's playoff time! FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The Detroit Lions are so sad at this point it's almost not even funny. Still, in fantasy football you can't let emotions get in the way -- plus, I did say it was "almost" not funny. Either way, the Lions allow almost 10 fantasy points per game to opposing kickers.

Enter Adam Vinatieri, whose Colts get the pleasure of facing the Lions at home this weekend. The only fear is that the Lions give up only touchdowns and no field goals, but the defense showed enough fire against the Vikings for me to believe they can hold the Colts to a field goal twice. That's all Vinatieri needs to reach double-digits.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Adam Vinatieri, vs. DET
2. Rob Bironas, at HOU
3. John Carney, at DAL
4. Stephen Gostkowski, at OAK
5. Nate Kaeding, at KC

It's playoff time! FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

For two straight weeks we've given you the Colts as a D/ST to watch, and they have not disappointed. Their monster day in Cleveland, where they carried the team to a victory -- and likely your fantasy team -- was outdone last week at home against the Bengals. Five sacks, three picks, a fumble recovery, and a touchdown were accompanied by only three points allowed.

If it's possible, the Colts' opponent this week is even worse offensively. The Detroit Lions were already really bad, but now it looks like neither Daunte Culpepper nor Dan Orlovsky are going to be healthy enough to play. That means Drew Henson is taking snaps. He's attempted 20 passes in his illustrious career, and only two since 2004.

The collective chops -- as they say -- are being licked by the Colts' fantasy owners. Again.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Colts, vs. DET
2. Eagles, vs. CLE
3. Steelers, at BAL
4. Ravens, vs. PIT
5. Jets, vs. BUF

It's playoff time! FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

I can't say I ever thought we'd see this day.

Look at all the stud running backs, or even the quality running backs who don't split carries. Heading into this season, would anyone have ever thought the top running back in a week of the fantasy football playoffs was DeAngelo Williams? The same Williams who many thought would lose his job completely to Jonathan Stewart by now, or at least be splitting carries with him -- which he still kind of is.

He's just emerged as too much of a stud. The strength of the run defense doesn't matter, DeAngelo shredded the Tampa Bay Bucs, and he made it look easy.

The Denver Broncos have a terrible defense, and the Panthers are especially tough running the ball at home. There is not one player I'd start over Williams this week. Not a single one.

More notes after the rankings.

1. DeAngelo Williams, vs. DEN
2. Adrian Peterson, at ARI
3. Brian Westbrook, vs. CLE
4. Matt Forte, vs. NO
5. Chris Johnson, at HOU

It's playoff time! FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled in order to provide answers to lineup questions. These are assuming most leagues use Fleaflicker's standard scoring structure. If you need clarification, you need more players ranked, or have funky league rules, feel free to shoot us an email question.

The Minnesota Vikings will still have the Williams boys on Sunday, in all likelihood, so the Cardinals won't be running much against the league's second-best run defense. No matter, Kurt Warner's plenty equipped to throw all over them.

The Vikings have allowed 300-plus yards passing to Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Kyle Orton had his way with them when they visited Chicago, and the Texans torched them for 363 passing yards.

When Warner and the Cardinals play at home, they have some fun lighting up the scoreboard, and I expect this week to be no different.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Kurt Warner, vs. MIN
2. Peyton Manning, vs. DET
3. Drew Brees, at CHI
4. Philip Rivers, at KC
5. Aaron Rodgers, at JAX

Et tu, Brute?

It's one of the most famous phrases in the history of literature, and it's appropriate in this fantasy football playoff season.

Much like Brutus was a loyal friend to Caesar, helping him all way the to the top, he conspired to stab his former-friend in the back when it mattered most (kind of, just stick with me).

In fantasy football, you've likely had the pleasure of riding some studs to the playoffs. Some of them are primed to pull a Brutus on you and handcuff your team in the playoffs.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Brutus Boys:

Brandon Jacobs, Giants - My fantasy football affection for Jacobs hasn't been a secret, but ever since he tweaked his knee he's been unreliable. The Giants could easily hold him out of the rest of the regular season, as they'll easily walk to the top overall playoff seed.

Marion Barber, Cowboys - He hurt his calf favoring his injured toe. All of a sudden Tashard Choice is coveted in fantasy circles. Even if Barber plays, he won't be 100 percent -- which is really bad in light of his punishing run-style -- and faces the stout Giants and Ravens defenses.