FanHouse Sunday Wrap Up

If you owned DeAngelo Williams all season -- and surrounded him with quality "teammates" -- the odds are pretty good you were still playing meaningful fantasy football this weekend. If you were, you enjoyed another off-the-charts fantasy night from DeAngelo. Seriously, four touchdowns in the Meadowlands against the Giants? This guy is just stupid studly. He's also a great example of why your league should have its championship in Week 16, because the Panthers' game next week is meaningless. He could easily see a drastic decrease in his workload.

On the opposite side of the spectrum we have Kurt Warner. The second-highest scoring passer for the entire season ended up being the biggest Brutus Boy of them all. In case you were counting -- and odds are, you were -- that was a 1.5 point performance yesterday. If your league still plays in Week 17, he should be due for a bounce-back at home against Seattle. The Cardinals really need some confidence at this point, so I bet they go all out, at least until they get a nice lead.

Like we always do just after Monday Night Football, it's time to recap the week that was in fantasy football. Hey, it's go time folks. That's right, it's playoff time. There's very little time to prepare as the games start coming at you four days a week. You've gotta be on your toes -- there's no more gambling, no more getting cute. You roll the dice with what you've got and hope for the best.

Another week of fantasy football is in the books. And chances are you fit into one of few camps right now -- you're either really depressed and your season is over, or you're ecstatic and live to fight another day. Either way, it's the beginning of the end on a great season of fantasy football. The long journey was well worth the ride, win or lose.

However, let's not close the book just yet. Oh no, this coming weekend marks the championship/money round for many folks. And as you ignore Christmas shopping, work and family to quietly prepare for this all-important week ... be sure to follow the trends of Week 15.

Man, I hate being wrong. Throughout the entire Sunday Morning Tailgate, I told people not to bother with Tashard Choice, and he ends up compiling 166 total yards against the stout Steelers defense. It doesn't get much tougher on a running back than playing in Pittsburgh, so you'd think it's clear sailing for Choice from here on out.

I, however, will not be so hasty.

The Cowboys were surprised that Marion Barber couldn't play this week, so he won't be out much longer. Plus, the schedule doesn't get any easier. The Giants and Ravens are on the docket. The Cowboys will find much more success throwing the football against those teams at home than they did in Pittsburgh, so the reliance on Choice will go way down -- even if he plays.

If you own Marion Barber and Choice is on the waiver wire, you have to grab him. I'm just not expecting anything even remotely resembling the yardage/touch output again this season, or next, for that matter.

Man, what an absolute stink-bomb by the Colts offense yesterday. Peyton Manning throws two picks, zero touchdowns, and only racks up 125 yards against the Browns' sorry defense. Joseph Addai only nets 57 yards on the ground, and loses a fumble. Obviously, the receivers all sucked, due to Manning's poor day. At least the defense came through with a big effort, which cleared the path to a team victory. That's really all that matters to them, but for fantasy owners it could have been a devastating blow with playoff spots on the line.

The key for owners of Manning, Addai, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark is to take a deep breath and realize this was an aberration. The weather wasn't exactly ideal -- as you could see on the missed field goals -- and it won't be a factor again. The Colts play the hapless Bengals and Lions at home in the next two weeks, and then head to Jacksonville.

Two inside games, and one in Florida? Sounds good to me. I'm quite confident in the Colts offense to light up fantasy scoreboards, especially in the next two weeks.

Yeah, we were right about Tony Romo, Terrell Owens, Matt Forte, Warrick Dunn, Anquan Boldin, Brian Westbrook, the Bears D/ST, and a bevy of others. I also nailed my hail mary running back pick of Darren McFadden. The reading public doesn't love that, though. It's not popular. As Joe Posnanski pointed out recently, the internet police come out in full forces to "get you" when you make mistakes. Being a fantasy football analyst carries significant risk, because it's such an unpredictable beast in nature. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves of that fact.

Yesterday was a particularly rough day, personally. In a comment on my kicker rankings someone called me a "loser." It stung, but not because of the specific intent. I couldn't care less if someone wants to ex post facto get on the rankings and try to make themselves feel better by firing a cowardly internet shot. Furthermore, coming after me for a kicker ranking, upon which I made a sound argument? C'mon.

The reason it stung was the timing. We missed on a lot this weekend. Let's sort through the biggest offenders, and see what was real and what was an aberration.

Matt Cassel - In last week's writeup, I said he is not a stud. I was wrong. I'm fully jumping aboard the Cassel bandwagon. Two straight weeks with over 400 yards passing against worthy defenses sold me. Pittsburgh is a steep test this weekend, but Cassel's a no-brainer fantasy starter down the stretch against Seattle, Oakland, and Arizona. I'm talking QB1 in all leagues.

Value Machine checks out the overall perceived value of fantasy players. If you want to commit a fantasy felony, you'll sell high on the up arrow guys and buy low on the down arrow guys.

Hey, I'm with you. I want to scream today as I hear the name, "Lee Evans." He was in my active lineup on two different teams gathering a nice and plump goose-egg. What's funny about fantasy sports is how we end up hating guys about whom we normally wouldn't bat an eye, and most of the time it's not even their fault. Evans barely even got targeted last night because Trent Edwards was overly quick in checking down through his progressions. He was terrified to throw the ball downfield, which, I guess, is what throwing three picks early in the game will do to you.

Either way, I still don't want to give up on Evans. The Bills face the Chiefs, Niners, Dolphins, Jets, and Broncos for the rest of the fantasy season, and that's hardly a murderer's row of pass defenses. If the offensive line can get any sort of pass protection for Edwards -- and they should, considering the running game from last night should attract attention -- Evans will begin slipping through secondaries again.

Entering the season, it likely wouldn't have shocked people if you told them the Patriots quarterback would throw for 400 yards and three touchdowns against the Jets in Week 11. Of course, that was when golden boy Tom Brady was at the helm.

But Matt Cassel?

Seriously? He even threw in 62 rushing yards for good measure.

He's coming around, but he's not a weekly fantasy starter. He's most certainly not a stud. The Patriots were forced to throw the football all game because of their lackluster backfield talent teamed with the Jets ferocious run defense. Cassel attempted 51 passes, which was 13 higher than his previous season high. He's usually in the low 30s when it comes to passing attempts.

With Sammy Morris regaining his health, I expect the Patriots to play more ball control football in the next few weeks. Don't get me wrong, Cassel's a fine start in good matchups -- like Week 14 in Seattle. It's just that when he plays the Steelers in Week 13 you don't want to use him. When he plays the Raiders in Week 15, the Pats will be tearing up the silver and black on the ground instead of passing. Etc.

Don't get overzealous, because he's still not Tom Brady.

Value Machine checks out the overall perceived value of fantasy players. If you want to commit a fantasy felony, you'll sell high on the up arrow guys and buy low on the down arrow guys.

What we saw this past weekend in Oakland was a mind-boggling shift in value for several guys on one team, both up and down.

Jake Delhomme was atrocious. He completed only seven passes to his own team while heaving four picks. His 72 yards passing for the game was 21 less than Jay Cutler achieved on one play ... and the Panthers were playing the Raiders. His value will never get any lower.

Steve Smith only caught one pass for nine yards, as he was locked up all day by Nmamdi Asomugha. His value can't get much lower.

Jonathan Stewart was banged up and only gained 21 yards on seven carries. He's losing carries to DeAngelo Williams, so his value is also really, really low right now.

That brings us to Williams, who -- just as we said he would -- ran all over the Raiders for 140 yards and a breakaway 69 yard score. The value won't get any higher for Williams.

The Panthers face the hapless Lions this week, so you'd expect an uptick from Delhomme, Smith, and Stewart without a Williams letdown.

I haven't done a good job of hiding my love for Brandon Jacobs this season, and I don't plan to start doing so anytime soon. He's a beast, and even a solid run defense like the Eagles crumbles when he's barreling down upon them. We now have nine weeks in the books, and Jacobs has only had one bad game. He's on pace for 1432 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns, after scoring nine times in the past seven games.

While others are scared by the presence of Derrick Ward and Ahmed Bradshaw alongside Jacobs in the Giants' backfield, I realize those two actually help him. He's not going to wear down -- he's only averaging 17 carries per game, but gaining 5.3 yards per carry. You can also count on the Giants have a lot of leads to protect, which means they'll be keeping the ball on the ground to keep that clock running and the chains moving. The overwhelming majority of the goal-line touches are his as well.

Basically what I'm saying is that even when you see the Baltimore Ravens on Jacobs' schedule, you needn't bother sitting him. Yes, I know the Steelers held him down in a similar defensive scheme to the Ravens. Even more reason he'll come out with a vengeance, as far as I'm concerned.

Value Machine checks out the overall perceived value of fantasy players. If you want to commit a fantasy felony, you'll sell high on the up arrow guys and buy low on the down arrow guys.

Brady Quinn has never started an NFL game. He's only appeared in one, completing only three of eight passing attempts for 45 yards.

And I'll guarantee you he's the hottest waiver wire add this week in fantasy football. He may even have been rostered in many leagues (only six percent in fleaflicker leagues, though), but now the guy who did own him thinks he's struck fantasy gold.

Can he measure up?

The Browns do have some explosive options at receiver, even if they have issues with dropping balls or staph infections. They have a quality offensive line to provide protection for the youngster, and Jamal Lewis is an established feature back. The offense just put up its fair share of points against a really solid Baltimore Ravens defense, though they were missing personnel in the defensive backfield.

Also, don't discount the learning Quinn did while holding a clipboard for a season and a half, not to mention the built up proverbial fire in the belly. He's a competitor, and he's always been thought of as a smart QB.