Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.
Riser of the Week: After a five-interception game against the Panthers last week, Kurt Warner owners may have been a bit worried, especially since his next task was facing a ball-hawking defense like the Chicago Bears (which, by the way, is more reputation than actuality anymore). Some people were even talking about taking a flier on Matt Leinart in larger leagues. Sunday, Warner put a stop to that, breezing through the Bears' defense like a knife through hot butter. He ended with five touchdown passes and no doubt he's finishing the season as the Cards' starter.
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.
Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the NFL and how they'll affect your fantasy football team.
Quarterback
• Aaron Rodgers, Packers - Rodgers sat out of practice on Wednesday with sprained right foot and sore toe on his left foot. He's not expected to participate in practice until Friday, but he is expected to play on Sunday.
• Matthew Stafford, Lions - Stafford practiced on Wednesday, but only as a limited participant. His right knee is banged up.
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.
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.
Heading into the season, we liked DeSean Jackson's chances to move into low-end WR2 range. After three weeks -- two of which were with a backup quarterback -- we're ready to say he's easily a WR2, with the chance to move into WR1 range. In the past two games, Jackson has caught 10 passes for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Adding in a punt return touchdown in Week 1, Jackson has scored in all three Eagles games this season.
Since arriving in Chicago, Jay Cutler's been fighting the stigma that he's more of a stat-monger than a winner. The only way to change the feelings of the general public is to go out and win tough games. Anyone can look good during a blowout of an inferior opponent.
For the second consecutive week, Cutler has won close games in come-from-behind fashion. Last week, he led the Bears on a 72-yard, game-tying touchdown drive and then a 41-yard game-winning field goal drive against the Steelers. Sunday afternoon, Cutler brought the Bears back from an early 13-0 deficit to lead 17-13. The Bears lost the lead, but that was of no consequence, as Cutler again led them on a game-winning drive.
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.
In the overwhelming majority of fantasy football leagues this season, Matt Forte was a top-5 pick. He was coming off a sensational rookie season and now had a strong-armed quarterback to stretch the defense and open running lanes for him. Thus far, the payoff for Forte owners has been quite futile. In two games, he's carried the ball 38 times for 84 yards -- without scoring a touchdown.
Be patient, though, because the payoff is on the horizon.
On the strength of hard-hitting defense, Jay Cutler's right arm and Robbie Gould's clutch kicking, the Chicago Bears won their home opener in an extremely tough fight with the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers outgained the Bears 308 to 275 in a gritty defensive battle. They had 21 first downs to the Bears' 17. They, unlike the Bears, were able to effectively run the football. In the end, though, the Bears won on the strength of something the Steelers lacked: the ability to hit a big field goal.
Given that Chicago drew a road game at Green Bay and a visit from the defending Super Bowl Champion Steelers to start the season, an 0-2 start would be neither totally unexpected nor disastrous to the Bears' playoff hopes.
But try to telling that to the Windy City faithful.
After new quarterback Jay Cutler bumbled his way to four interceptions in a 21-15 loss at Lambeau last week, Chicago finds itself under the gun already. With Pittsburgh in for the Bears' home opener Sunday, Cutler needs to bounce back -- or he'll find himself getting picked apart by the Steelers' aggressive defense, even without injured Troy Polamalu in the lineup.
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.
Talk about two tight ends headed in different directions -- 
Whether it's torn, sprained, broken or just needs to be taped, Injuries to Watch will keep you up to date on injuries around the 
Cut-N-Go is Fantasy Football FanHouse's weekday roundup of the 
We've been down this road before. We get it -- 
Each Monday of the 
Since arriving in Chicago, 
Each Monday of the 
On the strength of hard-hitting defense, 
Given that Chicago drew a road game at Green Bay and a visit from the defending Super Bowl Champion Steelers to start the season, an 0-2 start would be neither totally unexpected nor disastrous to the Bears' playoff hopes.
