Author: John Paulsen (Page 807 of 937)

Just in case you missed the mention in the Postgame, Clinton Portis has apparently broken his hand. In the world of fantasy football, any time you put the word “broken” in front of a body part, it’s a very bad sign. It looks like he will be out 3-4 weeks, and by then the team may be out of playoff contention which means they may not bring him back at all. That noise you hear is every fantasy owner in the world checking his league’s waiver wire to see if Ladell Betts is available.

In other news, Tony Gonzalez injured his shoulder and his brother (?) said that he would probably miss 2-3 weeks.

Take a look at your league’s scoreboard – are the numbers down a bit this week? Other than a couple of games with big scores, many of the fantasy stars were quieter than usual this Sunday. But when they went big, they went B-I-G. Here are this week’s Headliners and Flatliners.

HEADLINERS

Carson Palmer (440 yards, 3 TD)
Palmer played great in the Chargers/Bengals shootout, completing a total of 31 passes to eight different receivers.

Honorable Mention: Phillip Rivers (337 yards, 3 TD), Steve McNair (373 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT), Brett Favre (347 yards, 2 TD), Ben Roethlisberger (264 yard, 3 TD), Drew Brees (398 yards, 1 TD), Tony Romo (308 yards, 2 TD)

LaDainian Tomlinson (28 touches, 158 yards, 4 TD)
In the last five games, LT has a total of 863 yards and 13 TD. That’s a career year for a lot of guys. Right now, there’s not a more valuable player in fantasy football.

Honorable Mention: Willie Parker (24 touches, 225 yards, 2 TD), Frank Gore (24 touches, 173 yards, 1 TD), Steven Jackson (24 touches, 133 yards, 1 TD), Joseph Addai (20 touches, 124 yards, 1 TD), Deuce McAllister (16 touches, 62 yards, 2 TD), Brian Westbrook (25 touches, 150 yards), Fred Taylor (17 touches, 134 yards)

Chad Johnson (11 rec, 260 yards, 2 TD)
Finally, CJ breaks out with a HUGE game, becoming the third player from the game to earn Headliner status. San Diego and Cincinnati combined for 975 total yards and 90 points.

Honorable Mention: Donald Driver (6 rec, 191 yards, 1 TD), Donte Stallworth (6 rec, 139 yards, 1 TD), Mark Clayton (7 rec, 125 yards, 1 TD), Marques Colston (10 rec, 169 yards), Malcom Floyd (5 rec, 109 yards, 1 TD)

Kellen Winslow (5 rec, 90 yards)
Other than Brandon Manumaleuna (who wasn’t starting for anyone), it was a pretty quiet day for tight ends, but Winslow had yet another solid outing and is clearly Charlie Frye’s favorite target.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Manumaleuna (2 rec, 14 yards, 2 TD), Heath Miller (3 rec, 30 yards, 1 TD), Jerramy Stevens (3 rec, 29 yards, 1 TD), Tony Gonzalez (6 rec, 84 yards)

FLATLINERS

Marc Bulger (215 yards, 1 INT)
There were QBs that had worse days, but if you look at the list below, there isn’t anyone with Bulger’s reputation. The Seattle defense did a nice job of bottling up Bulger and his receivers.

Dishonorable Mention: J.P. Losman (83 yards), Mark Brunell (132 yards, 1 INT), Alex Smith (136 yards), Damon Huard (201 yards), Joey Harrington (201 yards), David Carr (167 pass yards, 48 rush yards)

Clinton Portis (7 touches, 31 yards)
In all fairness, Portis left the game prematurely with a broken thumb, but he left his owners in a lurch on Sunday (and probably for the rest of the season, if they don’t have Ladell Betts on their rosters).

Dishonorable Mention: Leon Washington (11 touches, 36 yards), Julius Jones (15 touches, 45 yards), Jamal Lewis (17 touches, 50 yards)

Randy Moss (1 rec, 8 yards)
What’s happened to this guy? Moss used to be on the short list of the best WRs in the league, but now he’s having miserable game after miserable game. It just goes to show you – heart matters in fantasy football.

Dishonorable Mention: Devery Henderson (0 rec), Santana Moss (3 rec, 17 yards), Marvin Harrison (2 rec, 21 yards), Laveranues Coles (5 rec, 29 yards), Reggie Brown (2 rec, 38 yards), Andre Johnson (3 rec, 56 yards), Mike Furrey (2 rec, 13 yards)

L.J. Smith (1 rec, 8 yards)
Smith has been one of the most consistent TEs in the game, so this poor outing is a bit of a surprise. It seems like when Donte Stallworth is on the field, he gets most of the targets.

Dishonorable Mention: Ben Watson (2 rec, 16 yards), Alge Crumpler (4 rec, 37 yards), Chris Cooley (3 rec, 39 yards)

Donte Stallworth’s hammy is not 100 percent, but he’s not on the injury report and will play Sunday, barring a setback…Greg Jennings is a game time decision with his bad ankle…Despite conflicting reports, it’s not certain that Matt Hasselbeck will start in Week 11. He did participate in 7 on 7 drills this week, which is a good sign…Shaun Alexander did some cutting this week and Mike Holmgren is optimistic that he’ll be able to play against the 49ers next week…Joe Horn has been downgraded to doubtful and is not likely to play this week. Devery Henderson will likely get the extra snaps and targets after his great game last week…Rod Smith and Tatum Bell have been upgraded to probable and should play against the Raiders…Bernard Berrian was upgraded to questionable but still didn’t practice all week. Obviously, he’s not a safe play unless something drastic happens…Chester Taylor was upgraded to probable and will start against the Packers on Sunday…Todd Heap is listed as questionable, but returned to practice on Friday and is expected to play…Larry Fitzgerald and his sore hamstring are listed as probable and he is expected to return to the field on Sunday…Plaxico Burress is listed as questionable and should start against the Bears Sunday night…Rudi Johnson returned to practice on Friday and is listed as probable. He should have a decent day against a banged-up Chargers defense…Terry Glenn left practice on Friday after aggravating his knee injury, so it is unlikely that he’ll be able to go on Sunday…Amani Toomer underwent season-ending knee surgery on his partially torn ACL. Tim Carter is first in line for Toomer’s limited targets.