FanHouse Cadillacwilliams

Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games.

Top Faller: Greg Jennings had 80 catches for 1,292 yards last season. His worst game in terms of catches was two. His worst game in terms of yardage was 22. In 2009, he caught six balls for 106 yards in his one game before Sunday. Obviously, at home against the Bengals seemed to bode well for the fourth year wideout. The result was a goose-egg of a game from a player who is a WR1 on fantasy rosters in every single league out there. Keep in mind, angry owners, this isn't going to happen again this year. The Packers play the Rams next week, so there's no reason to get down on him now. He'll
be fine.

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For those who may use a different term or are new to fantasy football, "handcuff" is the term used when you own insurance for one of your players in the form of owning his real-life backup. It's usually a running back, but you could conceivably handcuff a quarterback. The theory is that some or all of the production is automatically replaced should you lose a high draft pick to injury, meaning you need to insure a high draft pick by grabbing his backup.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers think they finally have a franchise quarterback, in Kansas State's Josh Freeman. They very well might, but that doesn't make him a good fantasy football option for this coming season. In fact, I don't think he should be drafted in any league as of right now.

The Bucs currently have Byron Leftwich, who will probably be starting this season, while the rookie is brought along, a la Carson Palmer waiting behind Jon Kitna in Cincinnati. It's possible for the Bucs to cut Leftwich -- since they didn't give him a signing bonus it wouldn't cost them any money -- but most in the know believe Freeman's not ready to immediately come in and start.

Derrick Ward has left the band. The only current free agent member of "Earth, Wind, and Fire," the Giants' trio of running backs, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last night, inking a deal that is reported to be worth four years and $17 million ($6 million guaranteed).

Ward joins a running back corps that now includes Earnest Graham and a broken down Cadillac Williams, the latter of whom dealt with two serious injuries in 2008. The signing by the Bucs is another interesting move in what has been an already "bizarre" offseason in Tampa Bay.

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For all those secretly coveting and projecting Derrick Ward as the 2009 version of Michael Turner (you know the capable back-up who signs with a new team to be the man) you just might wanna pay attention. Ward just signed with the Tampa Bay Bucs with aspirations of finally being the man.

If another season plagued by knee injuries wasn't the signal of the end for Carnell Williams, this should be. Ward had other suitors in the fold, but chose the re-vamped Tampa Bay offense that is beginning to take on a new shape in the early going of this new regime. You may recall Ward was quite the steady contributor the past few seasons in New York and he caught the eye of many in the fantasy football world after he blistered the Carolina Panthers for 215 yards on National TV. So who else is impacted?

Cardinals running back Edgerrin James had a resurgence of sorts during the postseason. The same guy who managed just 514 yards during the regular season racked up nearly half that during the playoffs. Still, given his age and salary, there was a good chance his career with the Cards was over.

That helps explain why he didn't fly back to Arizona with his teammates after the Super Bowl (although having a home in Florida might've also had something to do with his travel plans). Whatever, the question now becomes: where does Edge end up in '09? Commence speculation:

I'm just gonna be real right now: Your fantasy league should be over. It's one of those things about which we've all pretty much made an unwritten pact. When people like Peyton Manning will likely not be playing because their teams want them to rest, you shouldn't have a fantasy relevant game. That's why we don't play in the preseason.

All that being said, there are leagues out there with a championship game this week. Since we are committed to helping you win your league title no matter what, we'll still be helping you out. In lieu of positional rankings -- due to a limited audience -- we'll sift through each position and give some pointers. We'll also examine guys who need to play well, as well as those who won't factor at all.

Feel free to leave specific lineup questions in the comments section, and we'll answer. We'll also be having a shortened -- yet quite effective -- Tailgate Sunday morning.

Again, we want you to win ... even if that means supporting you when your league is mishandled.

The Cardinals had been a great team at home this season, racking up a seemingly endless supply of passing yards. So when the Minnesota Vikings brought their below average -- as far as defensive rankings went -- pass defense to the desert, it should have been a fantasy paradise.

Instead, Kurt Warner was outscored by the likes of David Garrard, Chad Pennington and Matt Schaub.

Even worse, his one touchdown pass was to Jerheme Urban. Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and even Steve Breaston were likely in fantasy lineups everywhere, only to be relative busts.

And this was the playoffs. Let's hope you rode other players or had a bye, because those guys warrant inclusion into the Brutus Boys at this point. That won't change this week, as the Cardinals visit New England. We've seen how well the Cards fare in the Eastern time zone, and I don't expect them to do anything different this time around. Not after this subpar performance.

Fool me once ...

FanHouse's resident referee will chime in weekly with thoughts on major topics relating to officiating. We call it The Zebra Report. Matt Snyder is a high school official with eight years experience. While this is like a third-year resident critiquing the work of a world-renowned surgeon, it's still better than someone who has never worn the stripes.

Twice during the Monday night game this week, fans were up in arms about when the whistle was blown on a slow-moving pile when the ball-carrier was still on his feet.

This is probably the most difficult judgment an official will ever make. When there is a pile and the guy with the football has not gone down, and he does not show any signs of doing so, the situation becomes tenuous immediately. In every instance like this, the downsides drastically outnumber the upsides.

If you blow the whistle too soon, you may have given one side an advantage. Say the ball-carrier is still moving forward, and would have either broken free from the crowd for a long gain, or fumbled before his forward progress was stopped.

The playoffs are either upon us or one week away in the majority of fantasy football leagues. With this in mind, Fantasy FanHouse is examining what you can expect from the fantasy relevant players on each team.

Atlanta Falcons

The opposing defenses: at NO (24th against pass, 19th against run), vs. TB (3rd against pass, 9th against run), at MIN (21st against pass, 2nd against run)
The skinny: The future is bright here, but we don't care about that just yet. The run defenses in the last two weeks pose tall orders, and those usually amount to a mediocre week for The Burner (Bears, Eagles, Bucs). Still, if you've gotten this far with him, you likely can't afford to sit him at this point -- especially with his touchdown potential. I do greatly trust the pass attack for Weeks 14 and 16.
The must-starts: Roddy White, Jason Elam
The likely starts: Michael Turner, Matt Ryan
The spot-start: Michael Jenkins
The no-starts: Jerious Norwood, Harry Douglas
The D/ST: The hills and valleys of performance here have been extreme. They were incredible in Weeks 9 and 10, while brutal in Weeks 4 and 11. Some good and some mediocre stat outputs lie in between. Facing the Saints is not advisable, and I don't like them in the Metrodome (Vikings). Facing the Bucs at home in Week 15, I could see them as a viable start. All things considered, though, I'd rather have a good amount of other teams heading into the playoffs. Check on the Redskins availability.