FanHouse Justin Fargas

Here's how it works. We throw some intriguing matchups at the FanHouse staff and ask whether each player will be over or under a certain point total. The result? Fantasy Football Over/Under. Makes sense, right?

Let's review my picks from last week and see how awful I did ...

Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Faller of the Week: Steve Slaton was most likely a first-round pick, the centerpiece of your fantasy football squad. Obviously, his being benched after just three touches and a lost fumble had a huge impact on your fantasy game this week, but looking to the future, it's much more scary. Ryan Moats was impressive with Slaton out, which does not bode well for Slaton's future. The Texans are in the midst of chasing their first-ever playoff berth, so they aren't going to run someone out there who repeatedly gives the ball away. It's entirely possible Slaton loses his job at some point this season. Thus, he easily takes the biggest hit in fantasy value for this week.

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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

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards has been ruled out for Week 8. He participated in practice on Wednesday but only in a limited capacity. He's not recovering as quickly from the concussion as the medical staff would like, even though he's been cleared to play. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start in his place.

• Matthew Stafford, Lions - Stafford practiced fully on Tuesday but was limited on Wednesday with his knee injury. The fact that he practiced two days in a row is a step in the right direction, but it's still not known whether or not he'll be able to start on Sunday.

Everyone loves fantasy football sleepers, but they change depending on league size and availability. We're here each and every week to give you a look at good plays for all types of leagues.

You know it's going to be a great week when your featured sleeper suffers an injury so bad, his bone sticks out of his skin. While that was unfortunate (and likely very, very painful) for Leon Washington, the matchup advice turned out to be sound, as Shonn Greene stepped right in and put up a great line for absolutely no fantasy teams.

This week's slate of sleepers features many players coming out a bye week, hopefully feeling refreshed and ready to put up big points.

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Weeding through those unwieldy waiver wires requires a keen eye and a quick trigger. Thus, Waiver Wire Wonders provides a weekly snapshot of players worthy of consideration who should be available on a good portion of league waiver wires.

You can't paint a turd, folks. Week 7 gave us slim pickings in terms of waiver wire action. We saw a couple of interesting stories to add to the watch list, the reemergence of a quarterback long thought to be lost for dead, the first start of a highly-touted rookie, and a few other odds and ends, but really only one quality add via a huge day from a previously third-string rookie. All in all, it looks like a week to focus on lining up that blockbuster trade to take you down the backstretch, because the waiver wire gods did not offer us up much this week.

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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 England (4-2) at Tampa Bay (0-6): Tom Brady threw for six touchdown passes last week, five in one quarter alone. And to be honest, it gets easier for him this week in London against the Bucs. Expect fireworks from the Patriots offense, as Brady is beginning to click with Randy Moss, and he's extremely happy that Wes Welker is back in action.

On defense, the Buccaneers don't have the speed or skill at the cornerback position to defend against Brady and the Patriots' aerial attack. On offense, the Bucs are young and inexperienced -- especially at the quarterback position where Josh Johnson is already looking in the rear-view mirror at competition from Josh Freeman.

Pick: New England

During Sunday's Eagles-Raiders game, a pigeon went onto the field, stopped briefly near where the Raiders were lining up for a kickoff, and then flew downfield in the same direction as the Raiders' coverage unit. It made for a funny viral video, but one Oakland player, Justin Fargas, thinks it was much more: he thinks the pigeon was the reincarnation of deceased ex-Raider Marquis Cooper.

Fantasy FanHouse's "Bust a Move" segment provides quick-hitting insight on the most popular adds and drops across Fleaflicker fantasy leagues between Tuesday and Wednesday of each week. Knowing who is on the move during this 24-hour period often provides a valuable edge with regard to outperforming or underperforming players, injuries and depth chart shifts. So do as the man says, "Don't just stand there..."

The Adds

Laurence Maroney (RB, Patriots, 2,615 adds) - Proving yet again that fantasy football players are gluttons for punishment, Laurence Maroney leads the way as the most transacted player of the week. We already witnessed how this story goes with Fred Taylor and then Sammy Morris, so expect more of the same with Maroney. This backfield is just not reliable from a single-player perspective. On the positive side, both of those two previously mentioned runners suffered injuries, making Maroney's carries likely more consistent, but the Patriots also scored 59 points last week. Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes in a single quarter. Call it Seahawks vs. Jaguars 2.0 and look how the Seahawks followed that up this week. Anyway, Maroney's 123 yards and a touchdown effort may well have been a fluke. We can count on continued performance from Tom Brady, but if Maroney has showed us anything in the past three seasons, it's inconsistency.

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Did the injury bug hit your fantasy football team like it was a car windshield moving at 100 MPH? If so, it may be time to do some Damage Control.

Quarterback

• Daunte Culpepper, Lions - Culpepper calls the injury a tweak, others call it a slight hamstring pull. Drew Stanton played the majority of the second half on Sunday and nobody knows who will be the Lions quarterback in Week 7.

• Joe Flacco, Ravens - Flacco was noticeably limping on Sunday after his foot was trampled. He has a bye week this week -- rest will do him good.

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards took a blow to the head on Sunday. The Bills aren't using the word concussion until further tests have been completed.

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

Steve Smith is frustrated and it's not just the 2-3 start by the Carolina Panthers. Some of the problem may be that the Panthers' Smith is now "the other Steve Smith" as Steve Smith of the Giants has four touchdowns and 525 yards receiving, dwarfing the numbers of his counterpart in Carolina. But, the brunt of the frustration comes from his role in the Carolina offense and the fact that he no longer want to be a decoy.

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