FanHouse Nnamdi Asomugha

After a physical beatdown of the reigning Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals were riding high. "Just look at their next three opponents," observers proclaimed -- with good reason, as the Bengals were staring at the Raiders, Browns and Lions in succession on their schedule. The three teams had combined for four wins and 23 losses before Week 10, while the Bengals had won seven of eight since their fluky Week 1 loss.

Facing Bruce Gradkowski and the Raiders offense surely shouldn't be a problem for a team that held Ben Roethlisberger in check, right? Well, that's why they play the games.

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.

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.

Quarterback

• Daunte Culpepper, Lions - Culpepper calls the injury a tweak, others call it a slight hamstring pull. Drew Stanton played the majority of the second half on Sunday and nobody knows who will be the Lions quarterback in Week 7.

• Joe Flacco, Ravens - Flacco was noticeably limping on Sunday after his foot was trampled. He has a bye week this week -- rest will do him good.

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards took a blow to the head on Sunday. The Bills aren't using the word concussion until further tests have been completed.

Oh, if only Tom Cable was cool. He'd own a nickname that would stick: The Cable Guy. He has this rough, gruff, boom-and-oomph way about him, like John Madden when he was coaching the Raiders. He's a man's man and a grunt's grunt and a football player's coach, from the gut to the facial hair to the burly look. Damn right he could hang with the rowdies in the Black Hole, terrorizing the enemy with all those Darth Vaders and skull-and-crossbones creeps.

But earlier this month, according to too many sources to discount, Cable either hit and broke the jaw of one of his Oakland assistant coaches, Randy Hanson, or pushed a chair that caused Hanson to fall and hit his jaw. Either way, it wasn't cool. In fact, it was disturbingly volcanic behavior from a man who's supposed to be the most poised guy in the building, not the one losing his equilibrium simply because Hanson and the defensive coordinator, John Marshall, reportedly were having a disagreement.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Running game that needs help from the passing game. One thing is for sure, the Oakland Raiders can run the football. They finished 10th in the NFL last season in rushing offense. The problem is that they only had nine rushing touchdowns (only three teams had less), which we can attribute to the fact that the Raiders had the worst passing offense in the NFL.

If the Raiders can find a way to stretch the field and move the ball through the air, expect the rushing game to get even better.

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Earlier this week, EA Sports released the player ratings for Madden 10. And now, with the NFL Draft in the rearview, and nothing else to do between now and training camps, we'll ponder the important questions. Like: How is [Player who is obviously rated too high] rated above [Player who is obviously rated too low]?

It's fun and original!

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

The Oakland Raiders are coming off their sixth straight losing season and will be entering 2009 with their fifth different head coach in seven years.

For the second consecutive offseason, the Raiders have spent a gargantuan amount of money on cornerbacks Nnamdi Asomugha and Chris Johnson, and punter Shane Lechler. The Raiders also find themselves in their customary spot in the top 10 of the NFL draft, and their biggest need is pretty obvious.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The 2008 season might go down as one of the most bizarre campaigns in the history of the Oakland Raiders. Lane Kiffin and Al Davis clearly didn't get along, while Kiffin pulled off the impossible task of making Davis look like a sane, rational person.

A team spokesperson nearly decked a beat writer; the punter was, reportedly, punched out by a defensive lineman; and the team on the field finished with a losing season, failing to win more than five games for the sixth consecutive year. Just a disastrous season in every way imaginable.

In news that would be nothing short of a shock, it appears as if the Oakland Raiders are closing in on a long-term contract extension with Pro Bowl cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. It's long been assumed that the Raiders would have to use the franchise tag on him for a second straight year, but the two sides are apparently close to a contract extension.

Earlier in the day, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee offered up a quick report that a deal could be close. Now, Jim Trotter of Sports Illustrated claims Asomugha's agent, Tom Condon, has already forwarded a potential contract to the NFL for approval.

Heading into this offseason the Oakland Raiders had two key free agents: cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha and punter Shane Lechler. Al Davis made it clear that if he was going to use his one franchise tag on anybody, it would be one of those two players.

Turns out, he's not going to need to use it on Lechler, as the two sides have come to an agreement on a four-year contract extension, according to NFL.com's Adam Schefter. The deal is worth $12 million, which would make him the highest-paid punter in the league.