Here are your weekly Friday evening, I'm out of gas, so here are the barely readable rankings update.

Jeff Garcia is on the board. I ranked him and Luke McCown as if they'll start. Josh McCown is also on the board, meaning we could have the flying McCowns start in the same week for the first time since 2004. Palmer and Roethlisberger move down a spot, pending the weather. Kurt Warner moves up.

At running back, Travis Henry is up after a healthy week of practice. Selvin Young is down. Jesse Chatman is way up after being listed as probably and now looks like a solid RB2. Shaun Alexander is up and Maurice Morris is down, although you don't really want to play either. Kenny Watson is down, while starter Fred Jackson is up for the Bills.

Larry Fitzgerald and Braylon Edwards are both game-time decisions, although they are expected to start. Fitz is shakier. Jerricho Cotchery is off the list, while we welcome Laveranues Coles back. Although I'm worried he's rushing back from a serious injury. See everyone on Sunday morning!

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I usually don't get carried away with weather forecasts, but watching Monday night's game in Pittsburgh has me spooked because of the field conditions.

It's clear that field will be a mess if it continues to rain Sunday night for the Bengals-Steelers game. And wouldn't you know, our friends at Weatherplus (who provide Season Pass and Fantasy Fix Live with forecasts) says there is a 70% chance of rain on Sunday.

Continue reading "Mud Bowl II Coming Sunday Night?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

We can all agree that Eli Manning's advertisement for Citizen Eco-Drive Watches is one of the most improbably bad ideas in recent endorsement history.

Some qualities I'd like in a watch: Accuracy, consistency, coolness.

Some Eli Manning qualities: Sleepiness, um ...

Continue reading "A Moment from Someone Else's Sponsor" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

8:18: Got home in time to eat a quick dinner, and got the computer set up just as Deion Sanders told me to remember two words tonight: Nick Folk. Hmm...

I've been asked to try blogging this Pouliot-style, (all one entry), so we'll see how that goes. Let me know if you think I should keep latest entry up top or last. Can send me any thoughts to my email or in the comments.

8:23: The Packers start in their run-n-shoot set, going five wide to open the game. They test Jacques Reeves a couple times with results. Collinsworth tells us that they will test Reeves deep, and Anthony Henry underneath because Henry can't tackle right. And that's why Collinsworth is the best.

As the Patriots have shown this season, there aren't many teams with decent third and fourth cornerbacks. And the Packers have enough talent at wideout to test Dallas' depth tonight. Could be a big night for my man James Jones. Packers settle for a field goal, but I like the aggression.

Continue reading "Packers-Cowboys Liveblog" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 08:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (45)

Against my better judgment, I'm going to liveblog tonight's game, especially for those unfortunately souls without the NFL Network. It's the season for giving and all. See you around kickoff ...

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

If the Bears weren't going to look for a new starting running back before Cedric Benson's injury, they probably will now.

He's facing a long rehab and didn't impress this season. He still struggles with blitz pickup, and some believe the offense will be better without his limitations.

Continue reading "Is that it for Benson?" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 05:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

There will be a lot of talk concerning what the Browns should do with Derek Anderson and Brady Quinn, but the final outcome is easy to predict: The Browns have to keep them both heading into 2008. Luckily for Browns fans, GM Phil Savage seems to recognize how important it is to maintain the position.

After searching for a decent quarterback for nearly a decade, the Browns can't possibly let Anderson go without knowing what they have in Quinn. And they shouldn't deal Quinn until Anderson backs up his breakout performance after defenses get more tape on him.

It's not like Quinn is an expensive backup. He is set to make $1.43 million in base salary next year, which is very affordable. The real question is how the Browns choose to keep Anderson.

Continue reading "Browns have to keep both quarterbacks" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The rankings were only posted a few hours ago, but news has already changed some things. Anthony Thomas looks as good as out, so Fred Jackson will be moved up to No. 36 at running back. I can't imagine using him unless truly desperate because he'll split work with Dwayne Wright.

Marc Bulger is out. Gus Frerotte will be placed between Vince Young and Philip Rivers. I'd hold on to Bulger for the playoffs because he gets the Bengals next week.

I knocked Plaxico Burress down a few pegs, and he'll go even further if practice reports continue to be negative.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 02:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Not a great day for hopeful Marvin Harrison owners. An article on the Indianapolis Star website makes it sound like Harrison won't be helping anyone soon.

When asked if he thought Marvin Harrison would play this week, Peyton Manning paused, and said, "I wouldn't count on it."

I'm a little late to the party here, but I picked up Anthony Gonzalez in a few leagues this week and suggest you do the same if you need receiver help.

I've had my doubts about Gonzalez all season, but the time off with a thumb injury appeared to help him. He looked like a new receiver against Atlanta. With the Jaguars and every other team likely to double Reggie Wayne, Gonzalez should put up numbers worthy of a roster spot as a WR5/6 the rest of the way.

If you own Harrison, I'd wait to see what happens this week. If he doesn't practice, I don't think it's crazy to drop him. Would you really have any confidence using him during the playoffs? He will probably be limited even if he plays. It only took three years, but ranking ranking Reggie Wayne ahead of Harrison finally paid off.

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I've received a few emails from fantasy owners worrying that the Patriots would rest their starters in Weeks 16 and 17 if they clinch home-field advantage early, so let's clear this up.

You have very little to worry about. If the Patriots possibly rested starters, it wouldn't be until Week 17 when most fantasy seasons are over. Even then, we shouldn't assume anything. Let's use history as a guide. Here are the three times in which a Bill Belichick Patriots team had nothing to play for in Week 17.

Continue reading "Don't expect Patriots to rest starters" »

Posted by Gregg Rosenthal at 03:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)