FanHouse JoeNedney

With the beginning of the NFL Network's glorious Thursday night football beginning this week, fantasy football FanHouse is bringing you a preview for each and every Thursday night game from here on out. You've already seen the rankings, but things can change before Sunday. One thing that can't change? Your lineup choices for the guys playing Thursday evening. That's why we're here.

The Bears enter the game having lost three of their last four (the one win was at home over the hapless Browns). Their defense has plummeted from a respectable unit to one pretty easily shredded, whether via ground or air. The Niners come in having lost four straight and five of their last six. They are ranked fourth in the NFL in run defense and 24th against the pass.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Perennial sleepers. It seems like almost every season, people are discussing the fact that the 49ers are ready to break out and surprise people and win the NFC West. And then, almost every season, they suck. They might not be great this year either. Mike Singletary brings a more disciplined approach than even Mike Nolan, but you can't possibly expect Shaun Hill or Alex Smith to lead a team to the playoffs. Or can you? Well, actually, for fantasy purposes, who cares? There's going to be a lot of running and a lot of surprises on defense in San Fran this year, and that's going to be where you pick up the value.

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Parys Haralson may not be a household name across the NFL, but that doesn't mean he can't become one. After a strong season as a part-time player in 2008 with the 49ers, the 25-year-old linebacker signed a four-year contract extension Thursday, originally reported by Aaron Wilson at Pro Football Talk.

Per Wilson, the deal is worth $15 million total, while $6.5 million is guaranteed.

Thanks to a 39-yard Joe Nedney field goal as time expired, the 49ers closed out their season with a 27-24 win over the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon. With the victory, San Francisco ends the season with a 7-9 mark, which was capped off with a 5-4 run under interim head coach Mike Singletary.

After some speculation earlier in the week that Singletary would be remaining with the team in 2009, the 49ers confirmed it following Sunday's win, and signed Singletary to a four-year, $10 million contract, as reported by Matt Maiocco of the Press Democrat.

49ers president Jed York on the signing: "This is the last time our season ends in December."

You know, as long as the 49ers play in the NFC West, he might be right. I mean, just look at that division this season, and ask yourself if it's likely to get any better next season. Is it entirely out of the question for this team to enter 2009 as a legitimate contender for the division title? I mean, they only finished two games out this season despite the 2-5 hole Mike Nolan and J.T. O'Sullivan helped them dig over the first seven weeks.

It may be another losing season for the San Francisco 49ers, but you can't say they didn't try to shake things up. They fired Mike Nolan and replaced him with Mike Singletary, who tried to fire up his charges by benching them and showing them his hindquarters. And, now, the entire team is growing mustaches in advance of Sunday's season finale with the Redskins.

Actually, the reason for the follicle fervor isn't about getting a victory. The 49ers are holding an 80s throwback game and are extending the fun to 80s throwback facial hair. The idea came from the offensive line, who were inspired by photos of 80s stars like Randy Cross, John Ayers and Ray Wersching.

Quarterback Shaun Hill, brooding after his three interceptions against the Rams, said he came to work Monday and was inspired by the burgeoning lip neighbors his teammates were sporting.

"The only stat that matters is the stat at the end of the game, and we won that stat," Hill said. "So, I woke up very happy about that and to walk into work today and see all the glorious mustaches, I mean that just brightens your day."

Hill's favorite is kicker Joe Nedney's. Hill described it as a "garage full of broom bristles."

Alas, their 6-9 record provides a reminder that it was more than mustaches that made the 80's Niners football royalty. Should still be a lot of fun, though.

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! 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

Earlier this week, Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb wrote that he was "embarrassed" by the way he and his teammates were playing over the past couple of weeks. Well, Donovan can turn that frown upside down, at least for today, as the Eagles put up 23 fourth quarter points on their way to a 40-26 win at San Francisco.

McNabb completed 23 of 36 passes for 278 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while DeSean Jackson hauled in six passes for 98 yards in his homecoming of sorts. And they did it all without Brian Westbrook.

The Eagles had to come from behind after blowing a 17-6 lead of their own, and it started to slip away on the last play of the first half when San Francisco's Anthony Strickland returned a blocked field goal 41 yards for a touchdown. On the opening drive of the second half, Frank Gore capped off a six-play, 78-yard drive when he scored on a six-yard run to give the 49ers their first lead of the day. Gore finished the game with 101 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

Later in the quarter, Joe Nedney booted a 29-yard field pushing the San Francisco lead to nine points. Things looked good for the 49ers ... until the fourth quarter started.

In last week's game in San Diego, Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence crushed Texans quarterback Matt Schaub during an interception return.

Today the NFL levied a $15,000 fine against Florence, and he was not suspended. Texans GM, Rick Smith thought that the fine was too small:


Florence claims he doesn't even remember the play, and that he has to look it up on film. Chargers coach, Norv Turner says he doesn't believe it was intentional.

Patriots tackle Vince Wilfolk received a $12,500 fine for hitting Bills quarterback JP Losman's knees. He claimed it was not intentional, but it sure looked a little suspicious. Losman believed that fine was too low.

So, for all the defenders who might be tempted to take out Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for running up the score, apparently Roger Goodell believes that a hit to the knees is worth $12,500 and a helmet to helmet hit on a quarterback during a change of possession is worth $15,000. Just say afterwards that you didn't mean it.

During the 49ers' 31-10 loss to the Saints on Sunday, San Francisco kicker Joe Nedney sent a kickoff out of bounds. The fans, as fans do, booed him for it.

And Nedney responded by giving them the finger.

He did it in a sly way, sitting on the bench with his back to the fans and sticking up his middle finger behind his head, but he did it nonetheless. (You can see a picture of it on Pro Football Talk.)

After the game, Nedney apologized.

"I apologize for my gesture at today's game," Nedney said in a statement released by the team. "It is tough to be part of a loss and my emotions got the best of me. Nobody is harder than ourselves on our team. I know losing is tough for fans, too. It was an emotional response during the game and again, I apologize."

Nedney can expect a fine in the $5,000 to $10,000 range, which is what past NFL players who have given fans the finger, including Jake Plummer and Michael Vick, got fined.