FanHouse MichaelCrabtree

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.

In case you hadn't noticed, sports these days are all about Goliath. In 2009, the Steelers, Lakers, North Carolina Tar Heels and now the Yankees have all won titles in their respective sports. Cinderella is yesterday's news. The teams that win these days are the teams that always win, and if you think that's boring, well, tough. You can kiss one of Derek Jeter's five World Series rings.

So with that in mind, we need to be really careful about overlooking the Dallas Cowboys.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. All you ever hear about the Cowboys is what's wrong with them. Terrell Owens was a pain. Roy Williams is a loudmouth, too, and isn't good enough to replace T.O. Tony Romo's too concerned with his golf game and his high-wattage love life to ever attain his potential. The new stadium is ridiculous...

STILLWATER, Okla. --- Texas coach Mack Brown normally demands his teams stay in the moment.

But in the week leading up to Saturday night's game against 13th-ranked Oklahoma State, Brown wanted to make certain the third-ranked Longhorns remembered where they were at this point last season and what they lost against Texas Tech.

They were different opponents, but presented a strikingly similar scenario a year apart.

STILLWATER, Okla. -- It almost seems uncanny, the parallels between tonight's Texas-Oklahoma State Halloween showdown and last season's matchup between the Longhorns and Texas Tech.

A hostile road environment that will be filled with rowdy fans. Night game. National TV audience. The fourth game of an unforgiving four-game stretch that includes Colorado, Oklahoma, Missouri before this one.

A bid for the Big 12 South title and a shot at the BCS national championship game also hang in the balance.

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

Well, Adrian Peterson was seen as "limited" in yet another mid-week practice. However, isn't this becoming familiar ground? The guy ranks amongst the tops in the league for total carries and touches on the season. He takes a pounding and always gets back up for more. It's as if we just want to circle him as an injury liability, when despite missing a few games as a rookie – he's maintained a pretty consistent healthy track record in the NFL.

Of course the guy is sore and of course he's not going to be going full steam with this current ankle injury. As usual, the Vikings disclosed very little on the Peterson ankle injury. You have to monitor the situation, but it doesn't sound as if it's a high ankle sprain, which would certainly put AP on the pine. He is looking at a very tough and physical matchup with the Steelers this weekend. Considering it's AP, though, don't bench him. You never bench him.

Terrell Owens is an albatross. Mike Sims-Walker redeemed himself after a booty-call inflicted goose-egg. Just how good is Matt Schaub? Does Hakeem Nicks have his "big boy pants" on yet? How big an impact is Michael Crabtree going to have on the 49ers offense? Join Matt Snyder and Tom Herrera for this and much, much more in the Week 7 fantasy football podcast, as we welcome Frank Gore back and mock a fellow employee in the process.

Dez Bryant, an All-American wide receiver at Oklahoma State, was ruled ineligible last week because he lied to the NCAA about whether he had ever visited Deion Sanders' home. Bryant had, he said he hadn't, and for now he's no longer playing football for the Cowboys.

Sunday, Sanders used his NFL Network gig to talk about his relationship with Bryant, as well as the tampering investigation surrounding Michael Crabtree, the 49ers' 2009 first-round pick.

I thought Primetime came out of the 11-minute interview better than he went into it, but the circumstances are curious nonetheless.

Dre' Bly needs to work on his field awareness. After intercepting a Matt Ryan pass on the 49ers' 10-yard-line, Bly started Primetimin' his way down the sidelines, presumably under the impression that he was going to high-step his way into the end zone.

That lasted for about 30 yards, until wide receiver Roddy White stripped Bly and the Falcons recovered. First down Atlanta.

Moving pictures hilarity after the jump.

Jason Whitlock is known as much for his unhealthy love of high school teammate Jeff George as he is for speaking his mind, even if it might not be in his best interest.

By those standards, his most recent FoxSports.com column is relatively benign, although Deion Sanders -- the target of Whitlock's ire -- might feel differently.

Forty-Niners first-round pick Michael Crabtree finally signed his contract this week after spending all preseason and the first month of the season pimping Subway subs. Turns out part of the hold-up wasn't with Crabtree's agent, Eugene Parker, but with his "advisor," Primetime. At least according to Whitlock, who affectionately refers to him as Deion "Master D" Sanders.

Coverage of Michael Crabtree's deal with the 49ers has largely ignored an important and interested demographic: gamers. Fear not, Madden fans. Happy Crabtree will be added in the latest online update. Just don't expect him to hold onto the ball.

Crabtree gets an 82 rating, making him San Fran's top receiver. But given the newest Niners' online debut, it appears his avatar needs to shake off some rust.

Video after the jump.