With the beginning of the NFL Network's glorious Thursday night football beginning this week, fantasy football FanHouse is bringing you a preview for each and every Thursday night game from here on out. You've already seen the rankings, but things can change before Sunday. One thing that can't change? Your lineup choices for the guys playing Thursday evening. That's why we're here.
The Bears enter the game having lost three of their last four (the one win was at home over the hapless Browns). Their defense has plummeted from a respectable unit to one pretty easily shredded, whether via ground or air. The Niners come in having lost four straight and five of their last six. They are ranked fourth in the NFL in run defense and 24th against the pass.
Every week we're taking a look at sacks around the league. We looked at Aaron Rodgers and the Packers' sack problem in our main Between the Lines feature this week, but here are some other notes from Week Four.
• If a Dan Marino-style quick release is an offensive lineman's best friend, Seneca Wallace is becoming a lineman's worst nightmare. Wallace stepped out of bounds for a sack on a play where he could have easily thrown the ball away for an incompletion for the second time in two games. In this case, Wallace rolled out of the pocket and had plenty of time to throw. Eventually linebacker Freddy Keiaho, who wasn't a rusher on the play, came up to force Wallace to make up his mind. Instead of simply tossing the ball out of bounds (he was out of the pocket so any pass beyond the line of scrimmage would have not drawn an intentional grounding penalty), Wallace stepped out of bounds five yards behind the line of scrimmage. It goes into the books as the easiest sack of Keiaho's career, and clearly angered the Seahawks' offensive line--center Chris Spencer is seen throwing up his arms in disbelief at the end of the play.
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. Faller of the Week: Everyone on the Oakland Raiders. The Houston Texans entered the game as one of the league's worst defenses. They were the worst in the NFL against the run. Sunday, the Raiders gained just 165 yards and only a single first down on the ground against those same Texans. I'm done with Darren McFadden. Michael Bush and Justin Fargas shouldn't be considered viable fantasy contributors in any format, and I'd even give up on Zach Miller (which isn't his fault, but he's not going to put up stats for this embarrassingly inept offense). This team is dead to me, and they should be to you, too.
Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck didn't know what exactly was wrong with him after the NinersPatrick Willis delivered a blow to his back Sunday, he just knew that it hurt.
"I couldn't breathe," Hasselbeck told reporters Monday. "I knew immediately that I couldn't breathe."
Hasselbeck suffered the injury as he dove for the goal line in the second quarter. He started to walk to the sidelines after the hit, then crumpled to the ground in pain. Backup QB Seneca Wallace through a touchdown pass to Julius Jones on the next play -- San Francisco won the game, 23-10.
Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.
After generating a significant amount of hype over the past few years, the 49ers will enter 2009 with no expectations on the board. Division rival Arizona went to the Super Bowl, while many expect a rebound from long-time division champion Seattle. To me, this makes the 49ers a dangerous team.
WithFantasy Footballseason ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.
Meet the ... Perennial sleepers. It seems like almost every season, people are discussing the fact that the 49ers are ready to break out and surprise people and win the NFC West. And then, almost every season, they suck. They might not be great this year either. Mike Singletary brings a more disciplined approach than even Mike Nolan, but you can't possibly expect Shaun Hill or Alex Smith to lead a team to the playoffs. Or can you? Well, actually, for fantasy purposes, who cares? There's going to be a lot of running and a lot of surprises on defense in San Fran this year, and that's going to be where you pick up the value.
It's July, the slowest month of the year for the NFL, and it's driving you nuts. You need a fix. A hit. Anything NFL to pull you through the dog days. FanHouse is here to help with an in-depth look at each division that should have you plenty prepared for training camp. We're calling it Summer Scramble, and this afternoon we look at some Burning Questions in the NFC West and offer a ridiculously early prediction.
Word for the week: smokescreen. Expect to hear it roughly four million times between now and Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, FanHouse draft analyst Bruce Ciskie pointed out that the Lions -- at least to hear Mlive.com's Tom Kowalski tell it -- had a deal in place with linebacker Aaron Curry just in case negotiations fell through with quarterback Matthew Stafford.
That's certainly believable, even amid all the pre-draft misdirection. What's harder to fathom, though, is the idea that Curry, should the Lions pass on him, might not be a top-10 pick or the first defensive player drafted. If Detroit takes Stafford, NFLDraftScout.com's Rob Rang has a theory:
Parys Haralson may not be a household name across the NFL, but that doesn't mean he can't become one. After a strong season as a part-time player in 2008 with the 49ers, the 25-year-old linebacker signed a four-year contract extension Thursday, originally reported by Aaron Wilson at Pro Football Talk.
Per Wilson, the deal is worth $15 million total, while $6.5 million is guaranteed.
If you look hard enough, every team around the NFL has a player on its roster that should have received an invite to the Pro Bowl. The St. Louis Rams, for example, are livid that their punter isn't going. Some guys, like Atlanta's John Abraham, simply brush it off as no big deal, while others, like Tampa Bay's Barrett Ruud talk about how they got the shaft.
Ruud, a fourth-year middle linebacker out of Nebraska, is currently leading the Buccaneers with 117 tackles, while also registering three sacks, six pass defenses and two interceptions for playoff-hopeful Tampa Bay. He's obviously having a great season, though, not great enough to receive an invite to Hawaii. Predictably, he's not exactly thrilled with decision.
From Rick Stroud and Stephen F. Holder of the St. Petersburg Times:
"I got the shaft," Ruud said. "Somebody's got to get it, though." "The old saying is usually you go a couple years after you're supposed to and you stay a couple years longer. I'm not going to throw a tantrum or anything. I would've liked to have gone. Everybody wants to have that tag as a Pro Bowler, but unfortunately it didn't happen. All I can do is keep playing to get into the playoffs now."
With the beginning of the NFL Network's glorious Thursday night football beginning this week, fantasy football FanHouse is bringing you a preview for each and every Thursday night game from here on out. You've already seen the rankings, but things can change before Sunday. One thing that can't change? Your lineup choices for the guys playing Thursday evening. That's why we're here. 
Sunday Evening Wrap checks out players who increased or decreased their value during the Sunday afternoon games. 
Seattle quarterback 
Training camps have wrapped up, the 
With
Word for the week: smokescreen. Expect to hear it roughly four million times between now and Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, FanHouse draft analyst Bruce Ciskie 
If you look hard enough, every team around the NFL has a player on its roster that should have received an invite to the Pro Bowl. The St. Louis Rams, for example, 
