FanHouse JamalLewis

The goal of every NFL team is to win the Super Bowl. Even if, through front-office hires and player acquisitions, that doesn't always appear to be the case. But of the last 15 teams to hoist the Lombardi trophy, only two featured quarterbacks not classified as "franchise caliber."

In 2000, the Ravens won it all with a kick-ass defense. Trent Dilfer's job was to give the ball to Jamal Lewis and get out of the way. Two years later: same story, different team. The Buccaneers' defense did the heavy lifting; Brad Johnson was in charge of game-managing Jon Gruden's version of the West Coast offense with short passes and handoffs.

The road to the AFC North crown goes through Pittsburgh, but the Ravens would prefer to take their chances against the defending Super Bowl champs during daylight hours, at least when they travel to Heinz Field. According to the Baltimore Sun's Jamison Hensley, the Ravens have "asked not to be considered for a prime-time game at Heinz Field this season when they submitted their scheduling requests to the league..."

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

After 2007 brought the the Browns their first 10-win season in 13 years, expectations were exceedingly high heading into 2008. The team didn't change much, the core group of guys were back and they had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs. However, a quarterback carousel, a coach that never seemed to be the right fit and continued inconsistency on both ends led to a 4-12 season and a lot of "back to the drawing board" talk.

Eric Mangini is now the head honcho for the Browns and with that comes a lot of (warranted or not) expectations from the former Jets guru.

Some five months before the 2007 season, the Ravens, having jettisoned Jamal Lewis, were in the market for a feature back. They would send their '07 third- and seventh-round picks, as well as a 2008 third-rounder to the Bills for Willis McGahee, Buffalo's 2003 first-round selection.

It was a lot to give up, but the Ravens, coming off a 13-win season, felt they were one player away from a serious run at another Super Bowl. Turns out, they'd only win five games and head coach Brian Billick would lose his job.

McGahee would rush for more than 1,200 yards in his first season in Baltimore (4.1 average), with seven touchdowns, but he's struggled this year. In 10 games, he's managed just 521 yards on 3.4 yards per carry, and now splits time with rookie Ray Rice and Le'Ron McClain.

Last Sunday against the Redskins was one of McGahee's worst efforts since coming to Baltimore (11 rushes, 32 yards, lost fumble), and he readily admitted as much yesterday. Via the Carroll County Times' Aaron Wilson:

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 with his finger in the air 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.

Here's Week 14 at a glance, where we point out the horses destined for the Kentucky Derby and jeer those headed to the glue factory. (Disclaimer: This will only be for the Sunday games, since you probably can't even remember the Thursday games at this point.)

Studs

Brian Westbrook, RB Philadelphia (33 rushes, 131 yards, 1 TD, 6 catches, 72 yards, 1 TD) -- Not a lot of people have exposed the Giants' defense like Westbrook did yesterday, but I guess not a lot of people have completely taken over games in Brandon Jacobs' house. Westbrook had 203 all-purpose yards in the upset by the Eagles, not only keeping Philly's playoff chances very much alive but showing that when the offense is clicking, this team will be scary for the other side of the sidelines. Donovan McNabb might have just found his best offensive scheme yet -- check down to Westbrook and let the athlete make the plays.

The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, Fantasy FanHouse is examining what you can expect from the fantasy relevant players on each team.

Baltimore Ravens

The opposing defenses: vs. WAS (7th against pass, 7th against run), vs. PIT (1st against pass, 1st against run), at DAL (11th against pass, 10th against run)
The skinny: Baltimore really got the short end of it when it came to scheduling weeks 14 through 16. With three staunch defenses, nothing is looking very safe in terms of offensive starters. The backfield is a committee at this point and the passing game is in the hands of a rookie. Joe Flacco has three multiple touchdown games in his last four outings, but his yards and attempts are still low and the consistency is not there to risk a playoff start. The Ravens do expect a bigger role from Willis McGahee down the stretch, so he could return to form soon. The only true every-game starter on the Ravens, when it comes to the fantasy playoffs, is the defense.
The must-starts: D/ST
The likely start: Willis McGahee
The spot-start: Joe Flacco, Le'Ron McClain, Mark Clayton, Derrick Mason
The no-starts: Ray Rice, Todd Heap
The D/ST: The Ravens defense is just owning fantasy land as the season winds down. Start them every week without question from here on out

Yeah, we were right about Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Matt Forte, Warrick Dunn, Anquan Boldin, Brian Westbrook, the Bears D/ST, and a bevy of others. I also nailed my hail mary running back pick of Darren McFadden. The reading public doesn't love that, though. It's not popular. As Joe Posnanski pointed out recently, the internet police come out in full forces to "get you" when you make mistakes. Being a fantasy football analyst carries significant risk, because it's such an unpredictable beast in nature. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of that fact.

Yesterday was a particularly rough day, personally. In a comment on my kicker rankings someone called me a "loser." It stung, but not because of the specific intent. I couldn't care less if someone wants to ex post facto get on the rankings and try to make themselves feel better by firing a cowardly internet shot. Furthermore, coming after me for a kicker ranking, upon which I made a sound argument? C'mon.

The reason it stung was the timing. We missed on a lot this weekend. Let's sort through the biggest offenders, and see what was real and what was an aberration.

Matt Cassel - In last week's writeup, I said he is not a stud. I was wrong. I'm fully jumping aboard the Cassel bandwagon. Two straight weeks with over 400 yards passing against worthy defenses sold me. Pittsburgh is a steep test this weekend, but Cassel's a no-brainer fantasy starter down the stretch against Seattle, Oakland, and Arizona. I'm talking QB1 in all leagues.

FanHouse fantasy positional rankings are compiled weekly by the staff in order to provide answers to possible 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 have allowed 17 rushing touchdowns this season. They are allowing an average of 5.1 yards per carry and 171.5 yards per game. The Carolina Panthers just embarrassed them with heavy doses of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart.

Warrick Dunn is taking over duties for Earnest Graham, who was recently placed on the IR -- ending his season. With Cadillac Williams still not up to speed and no other overly talented options, Dunn is going to get over 20 touches this weekend in Detroit.

When you get that many touches against the Lions' sieve of a run defense, you are a top ten fantasy option. Get him active in all formats.

More notes after the rankings.

1. Adrian Peterson, at JAX
2. LaDanian Tomlinson, vs. IND
3. Marion Barber, vs. SF
4. Matt Forte, at StL
5. Marshawn Lynch, at KC

After it looked like some of the Browns players quit during last Thursday's loss to the Broncos, running back Jamal Lewis suggested as much. So did Josh Cribbs. Neither play mentioned names, but according to PFT, various anonymous sources suggest defensive lineman Shaun Smith was the target.

Romeo Crennel and Phil Savage made the requisite "there's nothing to see here" public comments, although I'm pretty sure nobody took them seriously. That's what happens when a supposed playoff team stumbles to a 3-6 record.

Whatever, according to the Chronicle Telegram, Smith knows nothing of being a quitter (via CTSB):

"I'm no quitter," Smith said Friday. "My mom always told me there would be haters in your life, you have to keep moving. "I knew it wasn't true, so I wasn't worried about it, it was funny to me. Everybody who's seen the way I play, they know what it is."

As to where the report originated, Smith offered this: "A snitch? Who knows? ... I've got thick skin, I'm not worried about that. I've got a job to do, stop the run and create some pressure in the pass rush."

The Browns are done. All that's let to decide is if Brady Quinn can handle the full-time quarterbackin' duties, and who the organization should pursue after they fire Romeo Crennel. The entire season has been a disaster, starting with the never-ending staph infection saga, Kellen Winslow's frequent outbursts, Jamal Lewis identifying all the quitters in the locker room, and management's futile efforts to act as if it's business as usual in Berea.

With that as a backdrop, last week Crennel announced that there could be some changes in the starting lineup, although he declined to offer specifics. Apparently, one option is to rotate players at three positions: inside and outside linebacker and safety.

The news doesn't thrill Sean Jones, safety: