FanHouse Percy Harvin

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

If you came away from your fantasy football draft with Steve Slaton, you probably used a late first-round or early second-round pick on the Texans running back and had visions of another 1,200-plus yard rushing campaign. Things aren't going as planned for you or the Houston running back.

After losing his fifth fumble of the season, Slaton was benched on Sunday in favor of Ryan Moats, who ran for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Now, says Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle, Slaton will have to battle for his starting job.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- How can a person that's so fast be so slow? But there was Percy Harvin in the Minnesota Vikings locker room on Sunday night, methodically prepping himself before addressing the media.

Slacks and shoes on. Check. Lotion applied from head to toe. Check. A rubdown of the close-cropped hair atop his head. Check. Repeat. Make sure all in his locker is in order. Check. More lotion applied. Check.

Turn. Breathe. Cameras roll. Recorders shoved his way.

Big smile.

Harvin can light it up without the ball in his hands in a fashion that's nearly as entertaining as he does with it.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It was mesmerizing, tantalizing for the fans, the 71,213 of them who filled Lambeau Field -- the most ever in this 52-year-old building. Maybe that was why, late in the fourth quarter, camera bulbs were flashing high and low as if it were the kickoff. Or why Packers fans were still on edge at that point, even though their team was cooked.

Yes, Brett Favre rolled them twice -- once in his new dome in Minnesota, and now here on Sunday on hallowed football ground. The Packers half expected him to show up and play the game in flip-flops to match his mental trickery. You know, this Packers legend, this turncoat in purple -- he had punched them in the gut before.

And after Minnesota's 38-26 win, after Favre had thrown four touchdown passes to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' three, and after the Vikings swept the season series between these long-time rivals, Favre had earned the bragging rights.

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Shame on them for booing him, mocking him, staging funerals for him, wearing flip-flops and eating waffle fries to ridicule him. The hostility toward Brett Favre was an embarrassment to a community that never looked smaller, an affront to the idea that the publicly owned Packers and their fans form a unique family bond amid the greed and sleaze of 21st-century sports. If the Cheeseheads truly had perspective, they would have stood and applauded the man whose swaggering presence defined a franchise and state for 16 years, and then they'd have rooted like hell for their boys to beat the old dude and the despised Minnesota Vikings.

---

---

Each week in the NFL, there are players that impress and players that distress. One week a certain quarterback might toss four touchdowns and run around pointing skyward, while the next he's laying on his back, holding his facemask as the other team returns one of his three interceptions for the game-winning score. With that in mind, here's Studs and Duds.

Studs

Carson Palmer, QB Cincinnati (20-24, 233 yards, 5 TDs) -- There was an interesting moment during "Hard Knocks" on HBO this year when Palmer was giving his center, Kyle Cook, a little bit of grief about the smell that Carson had on his hand after taking snaps. It was essentially boys being boys, but Palmer played it well and had some fun at the expense of Cook.

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Back judge Richard Reels was injured on Percy Harvin's 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.

Vikings tight end Jeff Dugan collided with Reels at about the Pittsburgh 15 yard-line with 6:09 to play and Harvin about to cross the end zone to cut the Steelers' lead to 20-17.

Reels was attended to by medical personnel for several minutes, but walked off the field under his own power.



Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

The much-anticipated showdown between the Vikings and Steelers at Heinz Field went pretty much as expected for three quarters -- hard-nosed, low-scoring, old-fashioned football. Then the fourth quarter came, and things went off the rails.

Pittsburgh held a 13-10 lead when the final frame began, and needed just one play to get inside Minnesota's 10. But on the Steelers' second fourth-quarter snap, Rashard Mendenhall coughed up a fumble. The Vikings then marched 89 yards in 17 plays, from their own 3 to the Steelers' 8. On third-and-goal, Brett Favre dropped back to pass and was stripped by Pittsburgh lineman Brett Keisel. Defensive end LaMarr Woodley scooped up the loose ball and rumbled, James Harrison Super Bowl-style, 77 yards for a touchdown.

---

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 participated fully in practice on Wednesday and said that his foot injury isn't a big deal. He'll play on Sunday.

• Derek Anderson, Browns - Anderson participated in full on Wednesday at practice and his ankle injury will not keep him from playing on Sunday.

• Trent Edwards, Bills - Edwards missed practice on Wednesday due to a concussion. He hasn't been ruled out for Sunday's game yet, but likely will be soon.

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.

Not that the Lions need any more mountains to climb, but they will be without quarterback Matthew Stafford and star wide receiver Calvin Johnson Sunday as they attempt to break an 18-game losing streak at Lambeau Field. Both players are listed as inactive for the matchup in Green Bay, though Stafford will serve as Detroit's third-string, emergency QB.

Daunte Culpepper will get his second straight start at quarterback for the Lions. In Week 5, he was 23 of 37 for 282 yards, a touchdown and an interception in Detroit's 28-20 loss to Pittsburgh.