FanHouse Ladainian Tomlinson

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.

Am I scared about the prospects of Steve Slaton losing carries to Ryan Moats (and even Chris Brown)? Absolutely. I'm more concerned about the overreactions from across the fantasy football world. Sure, I took it on the chin with Slaton in one league, but last week was hardly indicative of what will transpire from here on out.

Consider the following:
- If Gary Kubiak was going to send a message to his second-year running back with problems holding onto the football, what better opponent than the league's worst run defense?

- Slaton shredded the Colts in Indy last year, and that was without Matt Schaub at the helm to take pressure off him.

- Frank Gore got loose for a 64-yard touchdown against the Colts and added 43 receiving yards. Slaton is faster, more elusive and a better pass-catcher than Gore.

So, yeah, of course last week made me worried about Slaton. But I live by the "no guts, no glory" credo. You'll find Slaton in my top 15. You can have Ryan Moats.

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

You can take Terrell Owens out of Dallas, but apparently you can't take the immature and disruptive conduct, that Owens was known for, out of the Cowboys locker room.

Clarence E. Hill Jr.of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram knows that Roy Williams is frustrated with his numbers as a receiver this season. And Williams is quick to tell everyone who will listen that it's not all his fault.

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.

Matt Forte and LaDainian Tomlinson have been albatrosses for most of the season, but both came through to help their fantasy football owners in Week 8. Forte ran for 90 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Tomlinson also scored twice and amassed 56 yards on the ground. If we look deeper, though, neither back did anything to make you think they're all of a sudden going to turn it on and start producing on a consistent basis.

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The Rams-Lions contest this weekend has the potential to be one of the most unwatchable games in years. The Lions have only won once in the past two seasons and the Rams are 2-21 in that span. Remember, though, in fantasy football every game is exciting to some extent. In FanHouse's latest fantasy football podcast, Tom Herrera and Matt Snyder explain why they like both running backs -- Kevin Smith and Steven Jackson -- to have a good game Sunday. We also tackle why T.O. reminds Herrera of a smelly homeless guy on the subway this week, reveal our Starting Six Pack and discuss several deep league plug-n-play options (like Brian Hartline).

Fantasy Felony helps you hijack your fellow team owners.

Look at Matt Forte over there. He looks so forlorn, doesn't he? Like he's carrying a rotting cantaloupe instead of a football.

Forte is just one of many reasons your team might be 2-5, or even 1-6 (yikes territory). Or maybe you don't have underperforming players at all, and have just been hit by bad luck and bitten hard by the injury bug. Regardless of the scenario, time is running out for all you cellar-dwellers. This is the week you need to make trades in an attempt to save your season. And even if it's beyond the point of saving, at least you can say you tried. Time to blow this squad up and go for broke.

Although it has been to a different extent with each guy, Matt Forte, LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson and Jamal Lewis have been relatively awful fantasy football options this season. Considering we're finished with Week 7, it's time to start seriously considering the season a bust for anyone who hasn't started to show something at this point. You can't cling to "small sample size" forever. Is it time to throw in the towel on each member of this foursome?

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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.

He's baaaaaack. Frank Gore is both back on the field and back among the best fantasy football running backs in our Week 7 rankings.

After getting four touchdowns and 294 yards from scrimmage through two games, Gore owners watched him leave after a single carry in Week 3. They've since been without their RB1 -- likely treading water, at best. This week, not only is the horse back in action, but he's facing the Houston Texans. Yes, the Texans have seemingly righted the ship the past three weeks, but we've seen enough from them to believe they can still be run on. They are the only team in the NFL to have allowed 10 rushing touchdowns thus far in 2009. Plus, Gore will be an integral part of the passing game as well.

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

When the San Diego Chargers have the ball in the red zone with plans to run the ball, everyone on the planet knows that LaDainian Tomlinson gets the football. Especially, say Chris Jenkins and Kevin Gemmell of the San Diego Union-Tribune, when Tomlinson is playing like the Pro Bowl-caliber back we're so used to seeing. But, on Monday night, instead of calling Tomlinson's number, Darren Sproles got the carry.

The odd part about that was, this wasn't another one of those nights for Tomlinson, not one of those games where every one of his rushing attempts seemed so futile and fruitless and belied his long-held stature as one of the game's truly great backs.