FanHouse Norv Turner

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

When the San Diego Chargers have the ball in the red zone with plans to run the ball, everyone on the planet knows that LaDainian Tomlinson gets the football. Especially, say Chris Jenkins and Kevin Gemmell of the San Diego Union-Tribune, when Tomlinson is playing like the Pro Bowl-caliber back we're so used to seeing. But, on Monday night, instead of calling Tomlinson's number, Darren Sproles got the carry.

The odd part about that was, this wasn't another one of those nights for Tomlinson, not one of those games where every one of his rushing attempts seemed so futile and fruitless and belied his long-held stature as one of the game's truly great backs.

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

Consider this hypothetical: what if two coaches met in a dark alley and threw down in a no-holds-barred brawl? Who would emerge victorious?

First, some background: back when I was in high school, when my friends and I were pretty creative in finding ways to avoid actually paying attention in class, we'd create brackets (think NCAA Tournament) where we'd pit our teachers against each other**. Whoever we thought would win in a fight advanced to the next round. It always ended with our offensive line coach against our wrestling coach in the finals and a huge argument as to who would come out on top.

Anyway, last week, the Back Porch staff somehow ended up discussing whether Rex Ryan or Tom Cable would win in a old school playground scrap. I passed along the above information, and shortly after that, an idea was born -- NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament.

PITTSBURGH -- They watched, and they kicked at the grass and thought about how it all could have been different. The players on the San Diego Chargers defense watched their brilliant, tough, never-say-die quarterback, Philip Rivers, move the ball with ease on the Steelers late in the game, making a game interesting when it had no business being such. They watched, and they thought, "If only."

If only they hadn't put Rivers in that 28-0 hole. If only they'd been able to get a first-half stop on third down -- on fourth down, for that matter.

"One stop!" Chargers safety Eric Weddle said after Pittsburgh's 38-28 win. "If we could have just got one stop. Our offense is going to keep us in games, and for us not to be able to get stops, it hurts. I mean, they're converting third down after third down after third down. That's hard to handle."

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SAN DIEGO -- It's Week 3 in the NFL, and already the anger is spewing across San Diego over the Chargers' inglorious 1-1 start. Whether it is frustration over coach Norv Turner's play calling, uneasiness over the team's myriad injuries or overall disappointment with a franchise expected to dominate a weak AFC West, there is one player who is holding it all together.

The glue is no longer running back LaDainian Tomlinson's team -- the one-time NFL Most Valuable Player is sidelined a second consecutive week because of a sprained ankle.

Now, the burden of leading this locker room, this franchise, has fallen to quarterback Philip Rivers.

SAN DIEGO -- Ray Lewis waited 59 1/2 minutes Sunday to make a spectacular play he had created in his mind's eye, a scene crafted through hours of film study dissecting the Chargers' prolific offense. But the play was no fluke: That same game film all but promised the Ravens linebacker that San Diego would give the ball to spark-plug running back Darren Sproles in a short-yardage situation.

And with the ballgame on the line.

It's Saturday in August.

It's time for football. Instead of coeds and keggers though, today's football players will be getting paid. That is as long as they can stay on the roster.

There are six NFL preseason games on the docket for Saturday, and a lot of questions to answer and position battles to watch over.

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The Chargers franchised Darren Sproles on Wednesday, making him the smallest NFL player who didn't make his living kicking a football to ever receive such a distinction.* For now, he's set to make $6.6 million next season, although San Diego hopes to sign Sproles to a long-term deal.

Those negotiations, however, won't have any bearing on the organization's dealings with its other running back, LaDainian Tomlinson. Earlier this offseason, speculation had LdT playing elsewhere in '09, but it looks like he'll stay in San Diego -- he'll just need to take a pay cut.

Former University of Tennessee star and Redskins first-round draft bust Heath Shuler might now be a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, but that doesn't mean he's regurgitating the party's talking points just because Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid think he should.

In fact, he's pretty upset with the stimulus package (Shuler was one of a few Dems to oppose the plan) and happily points the finger at Democratic leaders on the Hill, telling the AP: "In order for us to get the confidence of America, [the stimulus bill] has to be done in a bipartisan way ... I truly feel that's where maybe House leadership and Senate leadership have really failed."

Ryan mentioned the possibility this morning that the San Diego Chargers could trade LaDainian Tomlinson this offseason; I suppose it kind of makes sense considering he really hasn't factored into their final game during each of the last two seasons. Oh, and for the most part he looked more Dungy than Tony himself this season.

Well, those rumors have circulated just enough to hit the blogs, the mainstream and then filter their way back to sunny San Diego and LDT himself. For his part, he's choosing to pretend like they're just that: rumors.

Tomlinson says he's heard the rumors that the Chargers may trade him, allowing them to keep the cheaper Darren Sproles and get some younger players and draft picks to build a stronger future. Tomlinson still has 4 years left on his contract, and says management has not told him anything.