NFL WEEK 13 PLAYER UPDATE

Aries Rising
With Marc Bulger done for the year (probably), the Rams turned to Jamie Martin on Sunday. Martin lasted just three passes before getting his brain turned into a sloppy bowl of warm porridge. If you saw the Rams' team doctors administering to Martin on the sideline, it was obvious that he was only dimly aware of his surroundings. His name, his gender, and his sexual orientation was up for debate. It's very possible that Martin won't play next week.

Enter third quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, known primarily for being one of two rookies to ace the pre-draft Wonderlic test. Ever. Despite the pressure of playing from behind, the Crimson kid looked darn good, as he topped 300 yards, threw three touchdowns, and rallied his team for a victory. His stat line would have been even stronger if Torry Holt hadn't been interfered with in the end zone (resulting in a one-yard Steven Jackson touchdown), and if a couple of drops hadn't occurred.

The Rams' remaining schedule is pretty easy; they don't play a team that entered Sunday with a winning record until week 17. Fitz makes for an intriguing pickup for those who have quarterback problems (and who doesn't right now?).

Carr in Drive
Many of us figured that David Carr would have a nice game against the awful St. Louis secondary. But three first half touchdowns? In his entire career, Carr had managed just one other three touchdown game. To top it off, Andre Johnson, one of the biggest busts in fantasy football this year, finally scored.

So, is Houston's offense finally evolving into competence? Should you scan the waiver wire for Carr and Johnson? Hell, no. Their Sunday stats were a product of their opponent. Plus, the heartbreaking nature of the loss may put the Texans into a tailspin. Next week, they'll travel to Baltimore, which will provide a much more valid picture of the Houston offense, and I expect they'll struggle.

Nice Johnson
Is it me, or is Rudi Johnson getting increasingly effective with each game? Now that we're well into the season, his punishing running style seems to be working better against tiring defenses. Chris Perry hasn't done much for a while, which also helps Johnson's stat line. Johnson is getting more use than Nick Lachey's "home movies" of Jessica Simpson. Cincinnati's playoff run is super easy: Cleveland, Detroit, and Buffalo in weeks 14-16. (You don't crown your champion in week 17, when myriad stars are resting, do you?) I'm bullish on Johnson for the rest of the season.

Changing of DeGuard
It's the beginning of the end for Stephen Davis. Davis has looked tired since, well actually, week one. Yet he's been in the lineup because he's the team's best between-the-tackles runner, and John Fox simply loves to run up the middle. But Davis' meager 3.0 yard-per-carry average simply wasn't getting it done, and Fox couldn't take it any longer. So on Sunday, DeShaun Foster got 23 carries, while Davis only got six.

Foster didn't wow anyone this week, but he'll likely continue to get more carries. The problem is that Foster isn't a hard-yardage guy, and the team doesn't trust him near the stripe. On Sunday, they tried Davis with a carry from the one, but he was stuffed, so he may not be the answer either. It might be worth your while to pick up Nick Goings, too. Confused? Yeah, you probably should be.

Uptick in Vick
Over the past few years, it's been easier to criticize Michael Vick's fantasy production than the fan fiction on ilovewookies.com. Now that Vick's passing has improved, I'll take a moment to acknowledge as much. He's thrown two touchdowns in three consecutive weeks. Granted, two of those three opponents were Detroit and Green Bay, but it still marks a notable improvement over his previous play.

Looking ahead, Vick will face a series of much tougher tests the rest of the year. Other than a layup against the Saints, every other game he'll play this year is pretty tough. If Vick manages to keep playing this well against Carolina, Tampa, and Chicago, I'll officially become a believer.

Too Late for Nate
Those of you who have hung on to Nate Burleson, I'm sorry to say that it's officially time to pull the plug. He entered Sunday's game healthy (for the first time since the opener), but was yanked out of the starting lineup in favor of Koren Robinson. How bad has Burleson been? This bad: 14 catches, 166 yards, one touchdown. Considering the Vikings' dicey schedule, feel free to make a change.

Non-Pickup of the Week
Undoubtedly, Ron Dayne will be a hot pickup this week. His nationally-televised performance last Thursday was seen my millions of fantasy owners. And everyone wants some depth at running back. I'm perfectly willing to give Dayne credit for slimming down and taking advantage of the situation that presented itself on Thanksgiving. But I'm not racing to the waiver wire. With Tatum Bell likely to return next week, Dayne will be relegated to the bench once again.

 

Quick Hitters
- Did anyone else notice that Travis Henry had more carries than Chris Brown?

- In the past, I've questioned whether Isaac Bruce would fully recover from his turf toe injury at any time this year. I'm happy to say that he appears to be fully recovered. As a result, Kevin Curtis didn't catch his first pass until overtime, when he scored his long touchdown.

- Willis McGahee hasn't scored since week six.

- If you're worried about Steve Smith, don't be. He's too important to his offense to be held back for long.

- I respect Antonio Gates for finding a way to play through his foot injury, but as his multiple drops showed, he wasn't ready to be on the field.

- How important is Joey Galloway to the Buccaneers? He led the team with 138 yards against a very tough Bears defense. The next closest receiver had 14.

- Prior to his big game on Sunday, Joe Jurevicius had really struggled the past few weeks with Bobby Engram in the game. With Darrell Jackson's return coming in a week or two, it might be the end of the road for Jurevicius' fantasy success.

- Jerry Porter dropped an unforgivably easy touchdown, cementing my feeling that he's an overrated bum.

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