FanHouse Mark Sanchez

Before the season, Rex Ryan had no qualms about talking smack. It was pretty obvious what the Jets were getting: a defense-minded, hard-nosed and cocky head coach. "I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's, you know, rings," Ryan announced on June. He made it apparent, before he had ever notched one victory, that he was putting the division rival Patriots on blast.

It was a welcome departure from Eric Mangini's style and made Jets fans feel they had a leader with some ... cojones.

But words only get you so far. And then you have to actually, ya know, keep winning.

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

Sunday was a tough day for quarterbacks, but it wasn't until Monday afternoon that the fallout from the Week 11 injuries started coming to light. Kurt Warner and Ben Roethlisberger received good news and may be able to play in Week 12. The same can't be said for Marc Bulger and Matthew Stafford.

If I gave out a tough-man award each week, I would have no trouble handing the hardware to Stafford for his heroics on Detroit's final game-winning drive. Stafford sprained his shoulder on the next-to-final play on Sunday and John Niyo of The Detroit News says he will likely miss the Lions' Week 12 game on Thanksgiving day.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It was a what-else-can-go-wrong game for the Jets that revealed their warts and showcased the Patriots' muscle. Everything about this 31-14 Patriots victory here on Sunday essentially pointed to one fact: the Jets are frauds.

They talked a big game before the first snap of the season and more smack when they toppled the Patriots 16-9 back in Week 2. They were throwing a rookie quarterback sensation at opponents, combined with a defense designed to growl and intimidate.

They sped to three straight victories -- but have since lost six of seven games. And those six losses have come in a pair of three-game losing skids, including the current one. They are a 4-6 team steamrolling to a 7-9 or 6-10 season.

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 Orleans (9-0) at Tampa Bay (1-8): New Orleans was tested last week -- in fact, they've been tested in each of their last four games. Drew Brees has thrown seven interceptions and only six touchdown passes in those four games. You can expect the Saints to come out on Sunday and look to clean up their act a bit on offense as they play a divisional foe who doesn't have the arsenal to put up much of a fight.

Josh Freeman's play since taking over at quarterback is giving hope for the future in Tampa. He's thrown four touchdown passes and only two interceptions and seems to enjoy throwing to Kellen Winslow who has 11 receptions in his last two games. The Saints defense is a little beaten up, but should be able to hold off the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Pick: New Orleans

After starting the season 3-0, including impressive victories at Houston and against New England, the Jets have fallen flat on their collective faces. With a home loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday -- a team that was previously 1-3 on the road -- the Jets have now lost four of their last five games. They've also lost their last three games at home, against the Bills, Dolphins and Jags.

Sunday, the Jets' problems emanated from losing the turnover battle (3-to-1), and their inability to stop Maurice Jones-Drew. MJD gained 123 yards on 24 carries and also threw in 22 receiving yards for good measure.

---

---

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

Denver (6-2) at Washington (2-6): Denver has lost its last two games and has shown an inability to score against good defenses. Washington's defense is ranked fifthh in the NFL, and that spells a much closer matchup than two teams with such opposite records should be involved in. It's extremely tough to throw against Washington, so Knowshon Moreno becomes a very important factor on Sunday. If he does well, Denver wins -- If Moreno falters, Denver loses.

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.

Week 9 brought us big games for POaYD sleepers Matt Cassel (262 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT), Bryant Johnson (35 yards and a TD) and the Falcons defense, as well as great games from deep-league 4th and 26 players Rashad Jennings (29 yards and a TD) and Josh Freeman (205 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT). I liked those guys so much, I decided to reach back into last week and bring forth a few sleepers (from both columns) that didn't quite get it going last week.

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.

We're halfway home, folks, and if history has taught us anything, the second half of the season is when fantasy football requires the keenest attention. At this point, draft day means nothing. First-round draft picks mean nothing. It's the waiver wire that wins championships.

With that in mind, Week 8 leads us into the home stretch with a nice batch to consider. The key to note for this week's waiver wire action is that pickups will likely depend more on roster needs, as we did not see any glaring adds for those who are quick on the trigger. Still, consider a breakout running back performance by a backup including three touchdowns, the solidifying of a hot rookie prospect, and a good sign from one of the league's most popular rookie quarterbacks. Plenty to do, so don't get caught on your heels.

The Early Games

New York Giants (5-2) at Philadelphia (4-2): The Giants are supposed to have one of the best pass rushes in the league, but they just haven't shown up in the past two games, with zero sacks over that time. They must get pressure on Donovan McNabb to have a chance on Sunday. Eli Manning also must figure out how to rebound from his four interceptions over the past two games.

Mark Sanchez caught a ton of grief recently when he decided to eat a hot dog on the sideline late in a blowout win over the Raiders. And I mean that -- people kind of freaked on the Jets quarterback, for no apparent reason other than the fact that the dude was hungry and pounded a dog.

Fortunately for everyone's sake, Sanchez was poised (!) enough to offer an apology after the game. But he wasn't done there; on Wednesday, the Jets announced (via Twitter) that Sanchez was going to get his charitable grub on for a local food shelter.