FanHouse Muhsin Muhammad

In terms of real football, Thursday night's game against the Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers is a sneaky good one. Sure, it's easy to look at the matching 4-5 records and scoff at the notion, but both teams have been playing well since a disappointing start (both started 0-3). They are attempting to climb back into the playoffs for the second straight year.

In terms of fantasy football, however, we have the running game and not much else. They are two of the most heavy run-oriented teams in football and shouldn't have trouble running on each other. The bonus is the game should be pretty short with the clock always moving.

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.

Week 10 dealt some potentially critical blows in the form of injuries, as two of the game's elite running backs -- as well as another solid weekly starter -- left their respective games due to injury. For waiver wire cherry-pickers, this spells opportunity as the backups here all provide potential additions. Beyond that, there is not too much else for this week on the wires, but we saw a big game from a quarterback on one of the league's worst teams putting up a fight against one of the best, a sage old receiver return to form, and a couple potential up-and-comers.

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

• Aaron Rodgers, Packers - Rodgers sat out of practice on Wednesday with sprained right foot and sore toe on his left foot. He's not expected to participate in practice until Friday, but he is expected to play on Sunday.

• Matthew Stafford, Lions - Stafford practiced on Wednesday, but only as a limited participant. His right knee is banged up.

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.

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.

Running Back

• Donald Brown, Colts - Brown left with a strained shoulder on Sunday and did not return. More information will be learned this week.

• Leon Washington, Jets - Washington left Sunday's game with a broken leg. He'll be out for the season, although the Jets say they are going to wait to put him on injured reserve.

• Jonathan Stewart, Panthers - Stewart injured his finger and left the game on Sunday. He did return later in the game but you'll want to watch and see what he does in practice this week. Any kind of hand injury can wreak havoc on ball-carriers.

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.

Usually I like to use this space to talk about some of the previous week's sleepers that paid off. And while we did nail some, like Nate Burleson and his 98-yard, two-TD performance, as well as the shutout posted by the Seahawks defense, there was one pick that most certainly did not come through: Derek Anderson.

The Browns showed signs of life in Week 4 -- then traded away Braylon Edwards. Throw in the awful winds in Buffalo on Sunday, and Anderson had as bad a week as possible for a starting QB, completing two passes in the win.

I generally hate singling out an entire group of players and branding the list a group of must-have fantasy options. You know, something like "hey, go draft all the 27-year-olds in fantasy baseball," or "third-year receivers always bust out." It's just too lazy of any fantasy analyst to blanket generalize an entire group without considering the circumstances to each individual situation.

Thus, many people out there believe there is one tried and true reality in sports: Players want to get paid. Well, of course players want to get paid. In the NFL, though, players are constantly under the microscope and don't have guaranteed contracts. More matters than just being in a walk year. What we'll do, then, is take a look at the contract-year players and examine how their motivation will translate into fantasy football success.

---

---

Normally, when teams hold an opposing quarterback to 7-for-27 passing and force four interceptions, they come out of the game on the winning end. Most teams, however, aren't the Oakland Raiders. Despite Jake Delhomme putting up the numbers shown above, the Panthers still managed to walk out of Oakland with a 17-6 win, in front of an announced crowd of 47,888, far short of a sellout. Games like this might be why guys are so willing to pay their way out of Oakland, I imagine.

So, anyway, as for the game itself ... I suppose it should be looked at as a positive that the Raiders saw, like, a 6000% increase in their first downs from a week ago, and actually managed to register a couple of field goals. However, when you consider how Delhomme, with four interceptions, tried to give the game to them, it has to be incredibly frustrating to still lose by 11.

Andrew Walter, making his first start of the season in place of the injured JaMarcus Russell, did his best to maintain the level of play Raiders fans have become accustomed to at the quarterback position, completing 14-of-32 for 143 yards, no touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Tony Gonzalez passed Shannon Sharpe for all-time receiving yardage for a tight end. That is the beginning and the end of the good news for the Kansas City Chiefs today.

The Carolina Panthers just drilled the Chiefs, 34-0, and took sole possession of first place in the NFC South.

The stat of the game isn't how the Panthers outgained the Chiefs 441 to 127. It isn't that this was the biggest shutout in Panthers history. It is the fact that Carolina held Larry Johnson to just two yards rushing.

Yep. Just one week after nearly topping the 200 yard mark, LJ gained just two yards on seven carries. He now joins quite a list of backs who failed to hit the century mark rushing against the Panthers: LaDainian Tomlinson, Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson and Michael Turner.

The Chiefs passing game was a joke, too. Damon Huard threw for just 86 yards before he was pulled for Tyler Thigpen. The Chiefs gained the smallest amount of yardage in 22 years.

Carolina couldn't relate to KC's problems since their offense was doing anything they wanted.

Value Machine checks out the overall perceived value of fantasy players. If you want to commit a fantasy felony, you'll sell high on the up arrow guys and buy low on the down arrow guys.

Hopefully you traded Rashard Mendenhall, as we insinuated last week when we said his value will never be higher. Remember, fantasy sports are all about value and perception is reality in between games. Many owners flocked to Mendenhall last week because he was "replacing" Willie Parker. His perceived value skyrockets, which means it's the perfect time to spin him. Just keep this in mind as we move forward.

Top week four : Laveranues Coles ... He busted loose for 30 plus points in most leagues. The problem is that he didn't receive the majority of Brett Favre's attention and rarely will this result in three scores. Jerricho Cotchery, Chansi Stuckey, and Dustin Keller all take looks away from Coles. This was a one week ride, so hopefully you enjoyed it and can move him for good value this week.

Top week four : Carson Palmer ... He comes off his one good game of the season -- against a solid defense, no less -- and decides to not fully disclose his injury. Owners found out he couldn't go right before game time, and surely some guys were screwed over by this. Keep an eye on his health, because if he can come back, his owners will surely be pissed enough to deal him for less than market value.