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FanHouse Patrick Crayton

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Roy Williams Still Calls Himself No. 1 Receiver in Dallas

It's that time of year again. Nope, not the changing of the leaves or the holiday season, it's that time of year when a Cowboys wide receiver isn't happy with quarterback Tony Romo, and allows himself the privilege of complaining to the media about it instead of, you know, talking to TONY ROMO!

Roy Williams, who was supposed to replace previously unhappy Terrell Owens as the top wideout in Dallas, has continued his career of underachieving, this year to the tune of 41.5 yards per game and just two touchdowns. While Roy has struggled, Miles Austin, an undrafted receiver out of Monmouth has done incredible stuff, including breaking the record in Dallas for yards receiving in a game (250 in week five) and scoring six times, five of which have come in the last three games.

None of those numbers matter, however, because Roy is the best in Dallas and Roy should get more looks. According to Roy.

Fantasy Football Reality Check: Miles Austin Becoming a Beast

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

A few years ago, I used to swear by the draft-day method of avoiding all wide receivers for at least the first three rounds -- and sometimes up to the fifth in leagues with multiple flex positions. The reasoning was simple: the incredibly fickle nature of receivers. Not only is there more turnover from season to season in terms of production than at any other position, there is week-to-week turnover. Maybe it's time to get back to that theory. Witness, Miles Austin has accrued 16 catches for 421 yards and four touchdowns over his last two games. Anquan Boldin, an upper-tier wideout before the season, entered Week 7 with 306 yards and one touchdown for the entire season.

Confident Cowboys Deliver Billion-Dollar Performance Against Atlanta

Patrick CraytonARLINGTON, Texas -- As the Atlanta Falcons' team bus rolled toward the Cowboys' unique stadium on Sunday morning, where more than 81,000 fans would eventually swarm inside, safety Erik Coleman soaked in the sight. No doubt, he was not alone in wonderment.

"I thought to myself, 'So, this is what a billion dollars looks like,' " Coleman said. "And once the bus rolled inside of it we just kept riding and riding. Usually inside of a stadium, the bus stops pretty quickly.''

Not this time. No nasty halt for the Falcons. No rubber burned.

And the Falcons kept it going that way, opening like they were cozily at home, taking the game's first possession, keeping the ball for more than 8 minutes, and building a 7-0 first-quarter lead.

Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Is LaDainian Tomlinson Still the Goal Line Back?

LaDainian TomlinsonCut-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.

So Long, Suckers: Depth Chart Shakeup

Fed up with one of your players? Eyeballing a player on the wire, but don't know who to drop? So Long, Suckers examines a few players widely-owned that probably shouldn't be.

Jim Zorn, facing a likely dismissal if his team dropped to 2-4, decided it was time for a change at QB, benching Jason Campbell in favor of Todd Collins. Well, the Redskins lost anyway, as your fantasy team likely did if you started Campbell as your QB1 (unless you were facing a Kerry Collins-led team, yeesh).

Luckily, you should have more options available to you than either Collins. Get rid of Campbell, owned in 58% of Fleaflicker leagues, as the Washington QB has likely flubbed his last chance to be an NFL starter.

Fantasy Football Cut-N-Go: Pierre Thomas to Share Carries With Mike Bell

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

In the months of November and December of last year, Pierre Thomas had a coming-out party. He scored nine times in those two months and vaulted his fantasy value into the Top 20 of many fantasy football pundits' preseason rankings.

Unfortunately for fantasy owners that grabbed him early, Thomas missed the first two weeks of play with a knee injury. While gone, Mike Bell stepped into his place and ran extremely well. But, in a twisted turn of events, Thomas became healthy enough to play in Week 3 and Mike Bell has since injured his knee.

Miles Austin Earns Expanded Role in Cowboys' Offense

Miles AustinIn Sunday's 26-20 overtime victory over Kansas City, Miles Austin caught a 59-yard touchdown pass with 2:16 left in the 4th quarter to pull ahead of the Chiefs. He wasn't done there though. When Kansas City forced overtime, Austin one-upped his earlier touchdown catch with a 60-yard touchdown reception to end the game.

Austin had ten receptions on the day with those two very important touchdown catches. He also set a Dallas Cowboys record when he tallied 250 receiving yards. Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning-News reported on Monday that head coach Wade Phillips said that Austin would now see an expanded role in the offense.

Fantasy Football Week 5 Rankings: WR

Many of you might have been surprised to see the Giants' Steve Smith and the Jaguars' Mike Sims-Walker (or MSW, for short) among the top dozen options for Week 4. No-names as No. 1 WRs? Well, those surprised people obviously haven't been keeping up with the action.

After another huge performance by Smith (11 catches, 134 yards, 2 TDs), he now sits atop the pack as the best WR through four weeks. MSW is seventh on the list, and that's not accounting for his zero in Week 1. Take the three-game average, and MSW (along with Smith and Reggie Wayne) is one of the three best WRs in football. How will the pair of overachievers rank this week?
Fantasy Rankings: QB | RB | WR | TE | DEF | K | Sleepers | Podcast

Zebra Report: The Usual Suspects

Zebra Report is FanHouse's analysis of actual NFL rules and how they are to be applied ... because most fans think they could do a better job than the NFL officials, yet definitely could not. Click here for an introduction as to how we do things.

The title, in addition to being lifted from a stellar movie, does not refer to the officials or the players. In fact, the "suspects" in this case are actually abstract. Two separate issues have continually come to the forefront in the discussion of rules this NFL season. We're talking about roughing the passer (specially this darn "Brady rule") and when a catch is completed (fully possessed). Neither issue will go away, and I'm guessing this is going to be a recurring theme. We'll also talk pass interference and an interesting rule on punts, in case you are tired of the usual suspects.

Sink or Swim: Dallas Cowboys Receivers

Roy WilliamsWe 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.

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