FanHouse Derrick Mason

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

It's been a weekly crap-shoot trying to determine which New York Giant running back would perform better between Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. Both have been dinged up and Bradshaw rarely practices more than once per week, but each rusher still trots out there and dutifully carries the ball each week.

Over the last four weeks Bradshaw has received 41.6% of the carries and 49.6% have gone to Jacobs. Their yardage has been a bit more varied as Bradshaw has rushed for 126 yards total and Jacobs 268 over those four games.

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

Riser of the Week: Terrell Owens came into Sunday with just 26 catches for 366 yards and a single touchdown -- in nine games. Considering the Bills were switching back to Ryan Fitzpatrick, who did no favors for T.O. when at the helm earlier this season, there was very little reason to start Owens in many fantasy leagues. Instead, T.O. reminded us how cruel a mistress fantasy football can be. He's still alive and kicking, as he ushered forth a vintage stat line. Nine catches for 197 yards and a touchdown. Is this 2007? I'm not buying any sort of extended rejuvenation moving forward, but it probably felt good for T.O. -- if only for one Sunday in 2009.

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Had you told the Baltimore Ravens they would win the turnover battle against Peyton Manning and the Colts on Sunday, I'm pretty sure they would have assumed the result would be a victory. Of course, getting into the end zone against Indy generally is a necessity in order to win the football game. The Ravens didn't do that and lost, 17-15.

Despite allowing 354 yards of total offense -- 135 to burgeoning star Ray Rice -- the Colts defense buckled down when in their own territory, forcing the Ravens to attempt six field goals and punt twice in their first eight possessions. The Ravens still had a chance to win the football game late, but Joe Flacco was intercepted by Gary Brackett with just over two minutes left at the Indianapolis 13.

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Fantasy Felony helps you hijack your fellow team owners.

Look at Matt Forte over there. He looks so forlorn, doesn't he? Like he's carrying a rotting cantaloupe instead of a football.

Forte is just one of many reasons your team might be 2-5, or even 1-6 (yikes territory). Or maybe you don't have underperforming players at all, and have just been hit by bad luck and bitten hard by the injury bug. Regardless of the scenario, time is running out for all you cellar-dwellers. This is the week you need to make trades in an attempt to save your season. And even if it's beyond the point of saving, at least you can say you tried. Time to blow this squad up and go for broke.

Things seemed pretty elementary for the Minnesota Vikings through much of their game Sunday afternoon. They held a 14-0 lead over the Baltimore Ravens after a quarter, a 14-3 halftime lead, and then a 27-10 margin early in the fourth quarter -- margins that likely inspired tons of confidence for the Vikes. Who would have thought they would need to be bailed out by a missed field goal as time expired in order to escape with a victory?

Yet that's exactly what happened, because the Ravens, behind explosive plays from Joe Flacco, Ray Rice, Derrick Mason and Mark Clayton, used just 11 offensive plays in 6:24 to score three touchdowns and take a 31-30 fourth-quarter lead. The Vikings did drive down and kick a field goal with 2:00 left in the game, which made the score -- the eventual final -- 33-31.

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Through the first two seasons of his NFL career, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe looked destined to be a superstar in Kansas City for years to come. In 2007, Bowe's rookie season out of LSU, he had 995 yards receiving, then topped that number in 2008 with 1,022 yards and seven touchdowns.

Year 3, though, has not gone as well. Bowe got off on the wrong foot with new Kansas City head coach Todd Haley -- losing his starting spot in the preseason due to work-ethic questions -- including coming to offseason workouts overweight. He then struggled with a nagging hamstring injury, and has just 15 catches in four games this season.

And with Kansas City 0-5 and apparently in need of a complete overhaul, Bowe's name continues to surface as Tuesday's trade deadline looms.

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.

[Last Updated: Saturday, Oct. 10]

Quarterback

Brett Favre, Vikings - Favre was limited again in practice on Friday but is listed as probable for the game.

Matthew Stafford, Lions - Lions coach Jim Schwartz will not announce his decision to bench or start Stafford until Sunday. Stafford did practice on Friday, but most of the Detroit media feels like Daunte Culpepper will start instead of Stafford.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Plenty of Ravens and Patriots players wore pink on Sunday -- matching shoes and gloves -- in honor of breast cancer awareness. Myra Kraft, wife of Patriots owner Bob Kraft, noticed.

She stood on the Patriots sideline only minutes before kickoff as both teams stretched and styled nearby. It takes a real football player to pull off pink, we agreed.

"And I am so glad they are manly enough to help with this cause,'' she said. "I wasn't so sure they would actually do it.''

The Patriots then set out to ensure that their social conscious should never be confused with their football tenacity.

They did just that -- even in pink, the Patriots still pack a punch.

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

Riser of the Week: Pierre Thomas was the apple of many a fantasy owner's eye heading into the season, but he was hampered by a knee injury for the first two weeks. Sunday, he reintroduced himself to the fantasy football world -- so let's hope you held onto him if you drafted him. Thomas ran through the Buffalo defense for 126 yards on just 14 carries, scoring two touchdowns. The Saints do have two tough matchups coming (Jets and Giants), but, long-term, Pierre is going to be a solid RB2.

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I'm going to try. I really am. Every year, some unknown wide receiver leaps from obscurity to being the waiver-wire darling of the fantasy football season. In a minute, I'm going to attempt to rank so many receivers that he won't slip through the cracks. Inevitably, he will slip through the cracks. So just for fun, after the rankings and after the commentary, I'll throw a few names against the wall. After the weekend, we'll see if any stuck.

Having trouble filling out your lineup in Week 1? Can't decide on a WR3 or a flex option? Well, here are some down-and-dirty rankings for your perusal. Use them as a guide, and if all goes well, you'll be 1-0 in a few
days' time.

1. Calvin Johnson, DET at NO
2. Randy Moss, NE vs BUF
3. Andre Johnson, HOU vs NYJ
4. Marques Colston, NO vs DET
5. Larry Fitzgerald, ARI vs SF

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