Carolina (3-1) at Green Bay (3-1)

Panther Overview: Cramps cramp Lamar’s style…after he scores twice
QB Rodney Peete showed why he hadn’t thrown a pass this decade, but it wasn’t all his fault, since his blocking was bad and he obviously missed WR Muhsin Muhammad. WR Steve Smith was the only viable option, and boy was he an option. Smith has shown without a shadow of a doubt that he can get the job done when needed. It was especially impressive that he was able to get 100+ yards without Muhammad. WR Isaac Byrd started for Muhammad, and he didn’t have a catch, which is pathetic. RB Lamar Smith wasn’t very effective, but he got the two short scores. Smith might have had a big fourth quarter, since he’s most effective at the end of the game, but he was slowed by cramps and had to leave the game. Some guy named Dee Brown replaced him and did little. New PK Shayne Graham missed a potential game tying FG and may be looking for work.

Packer Overview: Donald drives the point home that he's good
Clearly, QB Brett Favre missed WRs Terry Glenn and Javon Walker. Glenn played, but he was knocked out early. Favre struggled with pass protection, too, but still did enough to get his team a win and he at least posted decent numbers. TE Bubba Franks threw one of the two TDs Favre should have had. WR Robert Ferguson helped, but he didn’t play as well as he did last week and was a mild disappointment. One player who did not disappoint was WR Donald Driver, who continues to get open and make plays. Driver should be in your starting lineup each week. RB Ahman Green didn’t get great blocking (he missed FB William Henderson), and he wasn’t much if a factor all day, but at least he ran well enough to ease concerns about his quad injury. As we expected, his carries were "somewhat" limited. Green should have been more active in the passing game but wasn’t.

Chicago (2-2) at Buffalo (2-2)

Bear Overview: A-Train derailed
Something is up with Anthony Thomas. Granted, the Bills did everything they could to shut Thomas down, and their weak run defense tightened up greatly, but Thomas has been average all year, and the Bears have yet to establish a consistent running game. This is a concern, but Thomas should still be started because he gets scoring opportunities often. We are wondering if he’ll ever have a breakout game this year. QB Jim Miller played pretty well. He was pressured often and didn’t have the benefit of an effective running game to take the heat off, but he still put his team in a position to win. He threw another TE to WR David Terrell and a second score to Terrell that was called back. WR Marty Booker was active, but not as active as usual, as Terrell and WR Marcus Robinson was more active than usual. WR Dez White had only 4 passes thrown to him, so it’s possible that Robinson could challenge him for his starting job soon.

Bill Overview: Bledsoe Blasts Bears
QB Drew Bledsoe was marvelous yet again. The most impressive aspect of this game from a Bill perspective was their OL. This young group gave Bledsoe plenty of time to throw, and the Bill QB picked the suspect Bear secondary apart. He threw to WR Eric Moulds often, but also to his TEs and to FB Larry Centers. WR Peerless Price wasn’t as active in this one, but did score at least. The Bill ran pretty well on the Bears, all things considered. RB Travis Henry had his moments but fumbled for the 4^th consecutive week and after that gave way to RB Shawn Bryson, who looked pretty good. Henry was able to redeem himself with the game-winning score, but his fumbles are a serious concern.

Cleveland (2-2) at Pittsburgh (1-2)

Brown Overview: Couch struggles
Credit the Steelers for making adjustments on defense. Pittsburgh had the answer to the Browns’ multiple-receiver sets by keeping extra men back in coverage, yet they also were able to pressure Tim Couch often. It appeared that the Steeler defense was way ahead of the Brown offense, and the Brown coaching staff got out-coached. WR Kevin Johnson just missed a TD and Quincy Morgan bobbled a TD he should have had. The Brown offense did show some sparks, particularly RB Jamel White, who busted off a long 50-yard run to help pad his stats. Once again, rookie RB William Green did nothing. It’s clear that he’s a wreck right now and it remains to be seen if he’ll get it together. We do believe that since his value is so low, that he’s a worthy pickup because the Browns seem committed to getting him on the field, even if stubbornness is the reason. For now, White is the man at RB for the Browns. The passing offenses’ poor game was disappointing, but they should have better days and, as we mentioned above, Couch could have had 1-2 TDs easily in this one.

Steeler Overview: Bettis Bites
RB Jerome Bettis did have a brilliant TD run called back, but it’s clear that he’s not his old self. He must be injured or he’s suddenly gotten old. He is not hitting the hole well at all, and has not shown his usual burst and ability to run people over. The Steelers replaced Bettis with Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala, who got hurt (ribs). The line is underperforming too, but it’s time to see what Amos Zereoue can do with 10-15 carries a game. QB Kordell Stewart started off solidly and made some nice throws. But he also threw some terrible passes into double coverage and, as promised, was benched in favor of Tommy Maddox. Maddox completed 6 of 7 passes for 77 yards and a TDs and completed five straight passes on the drive that set up the winning field goal. Maddox has as good or a better arm than Stewart, but makes better decisions and gets rid of the ball quicker. While Stewart looked for Hines Ward and seemed to be forcing the ball when he threw to Plaxico Burress, Maddox was a godsend for Burress.

Dallas (2-2) at St. Louis (0-4)

Cowboy Overview: Carter is coming on
QB Quincy Carter is quietly playing well. He took what the defense gave him and spread the ball around well in the short passing game to nine different receivers. He’s not a good fantasy option, but at least his starting job is more than safe. RB Emmitt Smith had a nice 30-yard run – easily his best run of the season – but he wasn’t much of a factor other than that. Meanwhile, backup Troy Hambrick ran as well we he’s run in a while and was effective. The WRs couldn’t go deep in the Rams’ cover-2 defense, so there wasn’t much production here, as expected. The Cowboy defense continues to get after the QB and stop the run well, but their CBs are still liabilities.

Ram Overview: Marshall needs the Faulking ball
Why the Rams gave RB Marshall Faulk only 18 carries with Kurt Warner out and the game close, we’ll never know. Coach Mike Martz said he didn’t change his play calling when Warner was lost, and that was a mistake. Faulk dropped a key pass and fumbled, but he should have been a one-man wrecking crew in this one. Instead, he had a good game yardage-wise but didn’t make the impact the team needed him to in order to win. QB Jamie Martin played well. He wasn’t perfect, but considering his lack of time with the offense this year (he was out for most of the summer) he did well and should be more comfortable practicing with the first-team offense during the week. WR Torry Holt played well again but caught mostly short passes. WR Isaac Bruce did score, but he should have had another TD on a pass that was under-thrown by Martin. PK Jeff Wilkins missed a 48-yard FG that would have won the game, but the play before the Rams tried to go for the jugular with a pass to a wide open Ernie Conwell, but the play didn’t happen because of the Cowboy pressure on Martin. A safer running play to Faulk should have been the call. At least the struggling Ram OL played better; that’s about the only positive thing to say about the Rams.

Houston (1-2) at Philadelphia (3-1)

Texan Overview: Carr drives up his value
QB David Carr wasn’t special, and he was harassed badly by the Eagle defense, but the fact that he was able to throw 2 TD passes against the tough Eagle defense was encouraging. He’s still nowhere near being a viable fantasy option, though. WR Corey Bradford’s big day was a huge surprise, since all-world corner Troy Vincent covered him. The Eagle CBs are a little vulnerable to speed, and Bradford used his. Even rookie WR Jabbar Gaffney emerged a little in this one, with 5 catches. RB James Allen carried the load on the ground and did all he could do, but his blocking was still poor and he didn’t make much of an impact, nor did rookie Jon Wells.

Eagle Overview: Eagles win game that good teams win
This was a letdown game of sorts for the Eagles, but it’s hard to argue with 35 points. The Texan defense actually gave the Eagle offense some trouble, as QB Donovan McNabb started off slowly and faced a lot of pressure, the running game did little, and the WRs weren’t big factors at all. McNabb’s fantasy production was a little disappointing, but these things happen from time to time to QB. The Eagles scored on a trick play, and RB Duce Staley was set up at the goal twice and came through both times. Once again, the Eagles spread the ball around to a truckload of receivers. And although James Thrash scored for the fourth consecutive game, it’s hard to have much confidence in the Eagle WRs with McNabb spreading the wealth as he’s done. WR Todd Pinkston did have a solid game.

Dolphin Overview: Fiedler struggles
RB Ricky Williams came back to earth a bit in this one. He had a crucial fumble in the early going and also had trouble finding the holes at times. Even so, he finished with nice stats (126 total yards, 1 TD) that would have been even nicer if the Dolphins had given him more carries. QB Jay Fiedler got off to a great start, completing his first 9 passes and scoring a TD, but he struggled at times after that with his accuracy. The sprained index finger on his throwing hand was undoubtedly bothering him. WR Chris Chambers had over 100 yards, which wasn’t too surprising, considering the mediocre Chief secondary. Still, it was encouraging to see him come up fairly big, though it was evident that he has some things to learn about being an NFL receiver. WR Oronde Gadsden was pretty involved and had an okay game. TE Randy McMichael had a quiet day.

New Orleans (3-1) at Detroit (1-3)

Saint Overview: Slow start too much to overcome this time
Somehow, the Lion defense came to play against the Saints, and they totally disrupted the Saint offense. QB Aaron Brooks faced a lot of pressure and was off the mark for most of the game. His receivers dropped some passes, but the Lions did a fantastic job shutting them down, which was amazing. Once again, they team fell behind and the running game was taken away, so the offense did not have enough balance to keep the Lions off balance. Still, it was bad but Brooks had a solid game fantasy-wise, which is a testament to his fantasy value. RB Deuce McAllister ran well again and would have definitely had a huge game had the game been closer. McAllister did show his worth with a TD and 8 catches. WR Joe Horn was covered pretty well, but he still had a decent game. WR Donte Stallworth wasn’t much of a factor, but scored yet again, and WR Jerome Pathon was more of a factor and also scored. TE David Sloan came up small against his former team and had several drops.

Lion Overview: Lions have a future star at QB
QB Joey Harrington is a future star. There’s no way anyone could tell this guy is a rookie. Harrington throws a beautiful ball and is very accurate. He makes good decisions and is an excellent leader. He threaded one pass to WR Az Hakim, who was double covered, and it was a thing of beauty, as was his TD pass to WR Bill Schroeder, who emerge from the dead and caught 7 passes (before injuring his ankle). The Lions are utilizing Schroeder and Hakim’s speed, plus TE Mikhael Ricks in the middle of the field, so this offense should be a surprisingly effective one for fantasy purposes. RB James Stewart ran hard again and is a decent fantasy option, assuming he’s healthy.

New York Jets (1-3) at Jacksonville (2-1)

Jet Overview: Jets hopes hanging with Chad
QB Vinny Testaverde didn’t last long and probably would have had another ugly game considering the sad state of this OL. Chad Pennington came in and provided a little spark, but he couldn’t get the team in the endzone and that’s a disappointment. At least he looked for WR Laveranues Coles often and Coles produced. Pennington has been named the starting QB today. RB Curtis Martin started as expected, but despite a couple of good runs, wasn’t enough to help the Jet offense. Backup Lamont Jordan carried most of the load and did little. Actually, he did something big: He fumbled at the 1-yard line. The Jets have to stop the bleeding, but there are no signs that they will.

Jaguar Overview: Passing offense takes the day off
As expected, the Jags ripped through the soft Jet defense, which cannot stop anyone and cannot tackle to save their lives. RB Fred Taylor was great as a runner and a receiver, but Stacey Mack gobbled up 3 TDs. Expect to see Taylor and Mack splitting production for the rest of the season, but Taylor is obviously the best back. This was a throwaway game for QB Mark Brunell. He spread the ball around and the passing game just wasn’t needed, which was disappointing for Jimmy Smith owners.

Giant Overview: Collins allergic to endzone
The Giant offense looked horrible, and the Cardinal defense is a lot better than anyone expected. NY’s OL did a solid job in pass protection, but their run blocking was poor, and Tiki Barber’s impact was minimal again. As for Ron Dayne, he was a disappointment even for him, which is tough to do. QB Kerry Collins did have a 76-yard bomb to WR Ron Dixon called back, but he was off the mark all day, and his WRs suffered due to his poor throws. This was surprising because the Cardinal CBs are suspect. But the rest of their defense is pretty good. WR Amani Toomer was not limited by his illness, but was limited by the Cardinals doubling the WRs outside and Collins’ poor play. TE Jeremy Shockey was active early in the contest but was barely heard from in the 2^nd half. WR Ike Hilliard looked decent but didn't get enough looks to have a big day. Clearly, the Giants wilted in the Arizona heat, especially on defense. The Giants made a huge mistake trying to go for a FG with only 14 seconds left. On their own 38-yard line, Collins attempted a pass that was picked off and returned for a TD. Even though it was only halftime, that was a back breaker.

Cardinal Overview: Boston owners want to strangle him
There’s not much to tell here. QB Jake Plummer wasn’t asked to do much, so he didn’t lose the game for the team. Plummer spread the ball around to eight different receivers, and he actually threw more to WR MarTay Jenkins than he did to David Boston. Boston is killing his fantasy owners and injuries have a lot to do with it because when he’s healthy, he cannot be stopped and he’s being stopped. RB Thomas Jones was worthless as expected and gave way to backup Marcel Shipp, who wore down the exhausted Giant defense in the heat in the second quarter. Shipp suffered a knee injury himself, so he’s only a viable pickup if he’s healthy. Give Shipp his due. He moved the pile and got in the end zone twice, and he's a guy you definitely want to have if you're counting on Jones this year. The only bright spot for this passing offense was the fact that TE Freddie Jones was thrown to 5 times and had 5 catches. Still, 34 yards isn’t much to get excited about.

Tampa Bay (3-1) at Cincinnati (0-4)

Buccaneer Overview: Passing game gets the job done
QB Brad Johnson played very well. He was pressured often, and he threw two picks, but he was overall excellent. He’s throwing to WR Keyshawn Johnson a lot, but it seems Johnson is the guy to go to in critical situations when yardage is needed, and anyone else is the guy to go to when it’s time to make a big play for a score. Johnson has yet to score a TD and doesn’t even look like a good yardage guy this year. Meanwhile, Johnson continues to throw TD passes to his TEs. Ken Dilger scored again, but Rickey Dudley’s 2 TDs are pretty impressive, considering he just joined the team. Johnson also looks to WR Keenan McCardell a lot, and McCardell, unlike Johnson has shown he can make big plays. The running game stunk again, thanks to the poor OL and the ineffective running of Michael Pittman. At least Pittman is heavily involved in the passing game, so he’s getting decent yardage. And although Mike Alstott hasn’t been much of a factor in the grand scheme of things, he’s clearly the guy at the goal, so Alstott does have value.

Bengal Overview: Bengals throw Smith to the wolves
The Bengals had to make a change at QB, but it would have been nice if Akili Smith’s first start didn’t have to come against the Buccaneers. The Bengal line is terrible, both in run and pass blocking. The Bucs were all over Smith and Smith was clearly not on the same page as his receivers. We don’t know who was quarterbacking the club in the off-season and preseason because no Bengal QB has been on the same page as his receivers. The WRs are completely worthless. The most embarrassing line from the game was WR Chad Johnson’s. He had 10 passes thrown to him – and 0 catches. The line isn’t doing anything for RB Corey Dillon, and the team is falling behind, but at least the team is still giving Dillon the ball. They deserve a little credit for that. Dillon continues to run hard and do all he can do. But on this team, it’s not much. As for the rest of the Bengal receivers, they are complete slop.

Charger Overview: LT is a monster
It's increasingly obvious that the only two players on the Chargers you should consider starting are RB LaDainian Tomlinson and WR Curtis Conway. What can you say about LT, except he is the man. Working behind a substandard O-line doesn't seem to hinder the guy at all. The Patriots knew the Chargers were going to pound him in this game, but they were helpless to stop him. You know offensive coordinators have noticed what Priest Holmes and LT have done the last two weeks to the Patriot run defense, so look for opposing offenses to continue exploiting this weakness (hint: the Patriots go up against the Dolphins next Sunday). As for Conway, it has become clear that he is an every-week starter. He's healthy, he's playing great, he's scoring TDs, and QB Drew Brees looks for him constantly. Speaking of Brees, he's playing very well within the system, but the team doesn't need him to throw a lot to win, so he's not liable to put up good fantasy numbers anytime soon unless his team gets way down. The way the Chargers are playing defense, they won't be down very often this year.

Titan Overview: McNair lights it up while Mason goes down
RB Eddie George wasn't a factor because the Raiders jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead. He did get the 1^st quarter TD but wasn't heard from much after that. In fact, George did not carry the ball once in the 2^nd half. QB Steve McNair was behind the 8-ball all day after the Raiders got out to the big lead. Three of his four interceptions came on tipped balls, so the stat line looked worse than it should have. Still, he accounted for 2 TDs and nearly 400 passing yards, so he made his fantasy owners plenty happy. Like we've been saying, the Tennessee secondary is terrible, so McNair will continue to throw a ton this year. WR Derrick Mason was having another solid game but left with a separated shoulder and will be out for a while. He's a tough nut, so you know he'll be back in there as soon as he's able. WR Kevin Dyson was active in this one and should be a real good play until Mason gets back in the lineup. WR Drew Bennett caught the TD and was very active in the 2^nd half. WR Justin McCareins was not as active as Bennett, although he did get the long TD on a fluky play. It's hard to say at this point whether Bennett or McCareins will be the #2 guy with Mason out, but Bennett was clearly more involved in this one. TE Frank Wycheck muffed a pass that resulted in an interception, but otherwise he was solid and involved.

Raider Overview: Gannon is the bomb and Rice goes off
QB Rich Gannon was magnificent again (4 TDs, 381 yards) and seems to get better and better with age. He spread the ball around very effectively in this game and played almost flawlessly. The most encouraging thing about his performance is that the Raider offense didn't get conservative with the big early lead. Clearly, Gannon should be in your lineup every week until further notice. RB Charlie Garner has really impressed us this year and has emerged as a legit every-week starter. The thing about Garner is that he's always involved in the passing game even when he doesn't get a lot of carries (only had 11 in this one), so he's a good bet to go over 100 total yards and score each week. RB Ty Wheatley had only 4 touches in this one and was not much of a factor. It appeared that the Raiders were trying hard to get WR Jerry Rice the all-time yardage record, and they obviously succeeded. He appears to be the #1 option in this passing offense, so he's an easy start every week. WR Tim Brown was very active as well and scored, and the way the Raider offense is humming right now, he needs to be in your lineup as well, unless you're absolutely loaded at the position. WR Jerry Porter scored when the Titans somehow left him completely uncovered. He'll be a force whenever Brown or Rice retires, which at this rate may not be for another 5 years.

Minnesota (0-4) at Seattle (1-3)

Viking Overview: Culpepper can’t catch a break; WRs can’t catch the ball
As you likely saw, this was about as ugly as it gets. QB Daunte Culpepper should have had 300+ yards passing and at least 3 TDs, but WRs Randy Moss and Derrick Alexander dropped about 5 TD passes alone. Pass protection was a problem, but Culpepper played pretty well in this one and, as we expected, ran more. One problem, though, with his running. He’s not running like he did in 2000. When he runs, he looks more like a LB than like a bruising RB, as he did in 2000. As for Moss, we don’t know what to say. Clearly, he was distracted and frustrated, as you clearly were if you own him. There’s not much you can do with him, most likely, with his value so low. As for Alexander, we loved him to score this week and had he not dropped 2 possible TD passes he would have. It’s time to forget about starting him unless you absolutely need him. The running game did pretty well, and Michael Bennett looked good, as did Moe Williams. But it’s clearly Williams at the goal, so Williams has more fantasy value.

Seahawk Overview: Alexander is…well, you know
What else can we say about Shaun Alexander? Actually, we can say that this performance was against the horrific Viking defense, and it was concerning that Alexander was shut down in the second half and that the Seahawks lost another lineman (G Steve Hutchinson) in this one. Clearly, you should feel better about Alexander if you own him, and this big game should really help his confidence, but we still do wonder if he’ll put up stud-like numbers on a regular basis. QB Trent Dilfer came out firing and looked great, but he clearly lost his focus due to the carnage on the field, and it was disappointing that he wasn’t needed in this game. Had the game not been a blowout, he would have gone nuts, and WR Darrell Jackson would have, too, so that was a shame.