FanHouse Kevin Walter

This weekend's AFC South showdown appeared, at the beginning of the week, to be one of those strength vs. strength matchups. The Colts have the NFL's seventh-ranked pass defense and they have only allowed three passing touchdowns all season (making them the stingiest in the NFL). The Houston Texans are the NFL's third-best passing team and have thrown 16 touchdown passes in eight games.

Things this week, have, uh, changed a bit.

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

If you came away from your fantasy football draft with Steve Slaton, you probably used a late first-round or early second-round pick on the Texans running back and had visions of another 1,200-plus yard rushing campaign. Things aren't going as planned for you or the Houston running back.

After losing his fifth fumble of the season, Slaton was benched on Sunday in favor of Ryan Moats, who ran for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Now, says Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle, Slaton will have to battle for his starting job.

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

Risers of the Week: Alex Smith and Vernon Davis were first-round picks of the 49ers in consecutive seasons (Smith was first overall in 2005, Davis went sixth overall in 2006). They were supposed to be the main building blocks of a highly successful passing attack in the Bay Area for years to come. Instead, each was a colossal bust for several years. Sunday, 49ers fans -- and fantasy owners of Davis -- were treated with a much-belated version of what was originally planned.

Once Smith took over for the struggling Shaun Hill, he threw three touchdown passes, all to his dreadlocked tight end. Davis is clearly a must-start every week at this point. Smith wouldn't be a QB1, but would certainly be worth owning if handed the keys. Wait and see.

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

Sunday's Top Riser: We've seen this Tom Brady before, and it was in 2007 when he threw for almost 5,000 yards and totaled 50 touchdown passes. So far in 2009, he'd been good, but not great. And we drafted Brady for great in fantasy football. Enter the Tennessee Titans and the worst pass defense in football. Brady, despite playing in a quasi-blizzard, completed 29-of-34 passes for 380 yards and six touchdowns. That's all he'll need to get that swagger back. Next week against Tampa Bay, he's going to put on a show across the pond in London's Wembley Stadium, and he's a bonafide top-three fantasy QB again -- you can take that to the bank.

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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?

Sure, it's the Over/Under, but let's throw some fantasy point lines out there as well:

Marshawn Lynch (-4) over Fred Jackson. Who scores the TD? I say neither, but Lynch breaks a long carry and pulls ahead in the passing game.

Leon Washington (+5) over Thomas Jones. I'll take a long TD or two from sparkplug Washington against sparkless Buffalo.

Kevin Walter (+6) over Andre Johnson. Johnson will eat up the attention while Walter does the damage.

Ronnie Brown (NL) over the bye. Not even a bye week can stop Brown.

If your fantasy football team is off to a rough start, one of the best remedies is FanHouse's cram session podcast. Is it time to abandon Eddie Royal? Will Matt Forte play up to his first-round billing? And what should you do about that frustrating Terrell Owens? Get answers to these questions and much more as Tom Herrera and Matt Snyder dish out advice heading into Week 4. Listen up after the jump.

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

Riser of the Week: Pierre Thomas was the apple of many a fantasy owner's eye heading into the season, but he was hampered by a knee injury for the first two weeks. Sunday, he reintroduced himself to the fantasy football world -- so let's hope you held onto him if you drafted him. Thomas ran through the Buffalo defense for 126 yards on just 14 carries, scoring two touchdowns. The Saints do have two tough matchups coming (Jets and Giants), but, long-term, Pierre is going to be a solid RB2.

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Having trouble keeping up with all of Sunday's NFL injury reports? We've got you covered with our one-stop landing spot for all the latest news from pregame to postgame. Get the latest updates below.

6:35: Hunter Hillenmeyer, the Bears' replacement for injured LB Brian Urlacher, has left Sunday's game in Seattle with a rib injury.

6:17: Bengals LB Ray Maualuga limped off the field, then was carted to the locker room with an apparent knee injury.

6:00: NFL Network reports that Frank Gore suffered a high ankle sprain and could miss a couple of weeks.

5:53: Shawne Merriman has reaggravated a groin injury and is done for the day.

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

• Matt Cassel, Chiefs - Cassel (left knee) was limited in practice on Wednesday and is listed as questionable. But whispers out of Kansas City lean towards Cassel making it back to play in week 2. You obviously need to wait for an official word from the Chiefs before making a fantasy football decision.

• Donovan McNabb, Eagles - Andy Reid hasn't ruled out McNabb playing on Sunday, but it's much too early to make a decision. McNabb sat out of practice on Wednesday even though his broken rib is feeling better. If he doesn't play Kevin Kolb will get the start.

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

• Matt Cassel, Chiefs - Cassel has been limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday. He feels that his knee is making progress every day but head coach Todd Haley said that he and his coaching staff won't be able to make a decision on whether Cassel is healthy enough to play until Sunday.

• Matt Schaub, Texans - Schaub participated fully in practice on Thursday and his ankle looks much better according to coaches. He's expected to play on Sunday.