Week 7 - Early Game Wrapup

Notes and observations from today's early games:

• The Cowboys are in TROUBLE - You can try and pin today's 34-7 beatdown at the hands of the Rams on Brad Johnson, but this losing effort belongs to the entire team. Getting Romo back may help things, but the magic has officially worn off in Big D.
• Steven Jackson put an exclamation point on his comeback when he ran for 160 yards and three scores today. Jackson has been improving rapidly over the past three outings and unless you need to replace your entire roster to try and make the playoffs, you don't sell him at any price.
• Buffalo is the real deal? With Trent Edwards back under center, everybody did their job against the increasingly slow looking Chargers today. Edwards was good for 261 yds passing and a TD strike to Lee Evans. Marshawn Lynch had 92 YFS and a score. If you're a worried owner with a lot of Cowboys, the Bills skill players may be good trade targets.
• Paging Dr. Drew. Has anyone seen Drew Brees? The #1 statistical QB in the NFL didn't show up for today's game against the hot and cold Panthers. The imposter in the Brees jersey put up 231 yards, a pick and no TD's. This is the kind of line that isn't too bad if the running game is clicking. It was not. Aside from Brees owners, the real victims today were all those folks who started Marques Colston, expecting an immediate fantasy payoff after holding him on the bench for the past six weeks. They were sorely disappointed when Colston did not have a single reception.
• Carolina was rolling this week, so expect them to lay down and get destroyed by Arizona next weekend. Williams and Stewart ended with nearly identical lines and both had a score. So it looks as though both players will be serviceable RB2 or flex options down the stretch. Steve Smith's performance (122 yds and a TD) was yet another reason he's the only Carolina receiver I want to own.
  
• Tennesee is living large. And I'm not just talking about Lendale White. The quietly unbeaten Titans racked up 332 rushing yards today against the lowly Chiefs. Both White and Chris Johnson are worthy acquisitions if you're trying to improve your RB depth. Side note from this game: Brodie Croyle went down with a knee injury that is likly season ending. Raise your hand if this seriously affects your fantasy situation. Nobody?
• Minnesota at Chicago. Who saw that one turning into a fantasy feast? AP had his first truly Petersonian game of the season with 121 yards rushing, 2 scores and no fumbles. Kyle Orton continues to look more and more like a real starting quarterback. If you're in QB trouble and Orton is available, pick him up. On the other side of the ball, Gus Frerotte would have had a veyr nice day (295 yds passing and 2 TD's) if weren't for the 4, count'em, 4 interceptions. Frerotte is definitely an upgrade over Tarvaris Jackson for the Vikings, but it's unlikely he's an upgrade over whoever you're starting now for fantasy purposes.
  
• I, like a lot of people, thought the Giants would come back from last week's embarassing loss to the Browns by laying the smack down on the 49'ers. So it was surprising when the 49'ers hung tough and kept the game competitive. I'm not suggesting that the Giants are in trouble the same way Dallas is in trouble, but their initial run of dominance may be over.
• If you picked up Mewelde Moore as a bye week plugin, yeah, I called that one. 134 YFS and 3 scores made Moore one of the most valuable RB's of the weekend (and the afternoon games are just getting underway). And Roethlisberger made his whole receiving corps look good while thrashing the Bengals. But Santonio Holmes' continuing lack of TD production is troubling.