FanHouse RoyWilliams

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- You could smell this game as far away as Madison, and the part of it that stunk the worst was the Dallas Cowboys offense. On an afternoon in which everybody -- the officials, the head coaches, the offensive lines...everybody -- seemed to be conspiring to set the game of football back 40 years, it was the Cowboys who came up the smallest, committing 10 penalties and converting just 3 of 12 third downs in a 17-7 loss to the Packers at Lambeau Field.

"This was an impressive win for Green Bay," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "But it was unimpressive the way we didn't execute, especially early, when we still had a chance to get the game going the way we wanted it to go."

But the most disappointing part for the Cowboys was that, by losing this game, they blew a very real chance to get the season going the way they wanted it to go.

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PHILADELPHIA -- Brian Westbrook did not practice with the Eagles on Wednesday, nor did he talk about why. His coach, Andy Reid, said Westbrook would practice Thursday and that the reason he was held out Wednesday was his ankle, and not the concussion he suffered in the team's Oct. 26 victory over the Redskins. But if you buy that, I've got a South Philly bridge to sell you, too.

The ankle is a red herring. Westbrook's ankle is a chronic problem, for which he's had surgery, and his ankle probably hurts every day. They can put him on the injury report with an ankle problem anytime they want, and nobody's going to bat an eye. This thing with Westbrook is a case of a player, concerned about his own personal future, taking it slow amid a culture that's only starting to embrace the danger and seriousness of concussions.

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

Pierre Thomas owners simply cannot catch a break. It was bad enough watching Mike Bell tear through defenses as Thomas sat out for the first two games of the season, but now that he is finally healthy (and Bell is not), according to FFToolBox, the Saints are giving first team repetitions to Lynell Hamilton (this was also mentioned in the Cram Session podcast by our Matt Snyder and Tom Herrera). Pardon my French, but who the hell is Lynell Hamilton?

We are only two weeks into the season, but if you're sitting at 0-2 in any of your fantasy leagues, it might be time to make a few minor roster tweaks. No, it's certainly not a time to panic, but that sense of desperation must be setting in for you. Relax, we're in this together. The best way to get back on the right track (aside from pulling off a lopsided trade) is to trim the fat so to speak.

So, let's talk about who is floating at the mediocrity level and if they can redeem themselves or if you should spare yourself the wait. That's right, it's the weekly round of "Sink or Swim" where I get to shed the pessimistic, or in some cases, optimistic perspective on the fantasy underachievers. Let's look no further than the hit-or-miss/boom-or-bust Dallas Cowboys wide receivers and give them a warm round of applause, because today they are on the hot seat.

Do you keep 'em or cut 'em? Let dig a little deeper first.

Each Monday morning of the fantasy football season, we'll cut through the fantasy numbers put up by individuals and tell you what they really mean.

You know what Kyle Orton's line should have been? 16 of 28 with 156 yards and no touchdowns. He would have had a few more passing attempts before losing the game, which likely would have made him 16 of 30 or 17 of 31 or so. Instead, he was the beneficiary of the most insane amount of luck we've ever seen on one play in fantasy football. He forces a throw to Brandon Marshall in double-coverage, badly under-throws him and the Bengals tip the ball up in the air. The rest is history. And Kyle Orton had a decent fantasy day.

But don't be fooled.

Roy Williams is the first to admit that he didn't have a great 2008 season. Partly because he arrived in Dallas midway through the year, but also because his roles wasn't well defined. Terrell Owens was the team's No. 1 receiver (on paper, anyway), Jason Witten was Tony Romo's favorite target, and Marion Barber spearheaded the running game.

So it's no surprise that Williams didn't contribute much. Expectations are different this year, though; T.O. is gone and Roy will be Romo's primary downfield threat. At least that's the plan. Not everybody has full confidence in that eventuality. In fact, the programming nerds at EA Sports don't have much faith in Williams' ability to get open.

The proliferation of mock drafts as well as their offspring, the ADP (average draft position), have given fantasy football players three new approaches to uncovering values come draft day. Whether or not you take fantasy football seriously, the ADP is officially protocol in draft prep. Evaluating this list of fantasy football ADPs provides three distinct strategies that can lead to finding some gems at bargain prices.

The first involves the simple idea of hubris: that you yourself know more than everyone else. In other words, owners can assess the current ADP levels and determine if the broader fantasy football playing market has under- or over-valued particular players. In doing so, owners can determine where they think they can pick up steals on the cheap, catching the fantasy landscape by surprise.

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As fantasy football draft season approaches, everyone and their cousin will become an expert at finding sleepers or those diamonds in the rough. It's your job to filter through the various press clippings and reach for the stars with your gut instincts. One thing we here at Fantasy FanHouse can help you with is finding the players you already know at each skill position that might be slipping or simply may not rank all that high on most draft boards. Yes, today it's the wide receivers you already know and love that can be had for the right price, while your co-owners are sleeping.

Hit the jump to read about five such wideouts.

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Among the most tired arguments against fantasy football are that people playing it need to "get a girlfriend" or "get a life." First of all, as an avid fantasy football player, I'd like to point out that my wife probably wouldn't appreciate it if I got a girlfriend. Secondly, when seven well-known NFL players play, how can you really question if it's "cool" while comparing it to Dungeons and Dragons? Just get over yourself and try it before knocking it. It's fun.

Mini-rant aside, NFLplayers.com held an 8-team draft last week, pitting Leon Washington, Roy Williams (Cowboys WR), Ronnie Brown, Robbie Gould, Matt Forte, Cato June and DeAngelo Williams against one lucky fan. Let's see how they did.

The Cowboys cut Terrell Owens in early March, and we've been subjected to a story or so a week about why it happened, who was to blame, and what it means for both parties going forward.

This is newsworthy for a few reasons: it's the offseason, it's the Cowboys and it's T.O. Anybody else, or any other time of year, and these headlines have a shelf life of a few days. But it's June, so here we are.

And according to Yahoo.com's Michael Silver, who spent a couple days talking to Jerry and Stephen Jones, the real reason T.O. got axed was because he was too popular. Seriously.