Please join us via the links below for two hours of dart-throwing rigorous fantasy analysis. We cover all the Week 13 matchups and endure a barrage of sit/start questions. And our festive caroling is sure to bring a smile to your face!

Many thanks to the beaten, haggard production staff at The Score WSCR-AM 670. They're the real heroes.

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• Houston's Steve Slaton(notes) isn't likely to play in Week 13, which would leave the rushing workload to Chris Brown and Ryan Moats(notes). Details here:

Numbness in his right thumb, caused by unspecified nerve issues in his neck and shoulder, could keep running back Steve Slaton out of the Texans’ crucial game with Jacksonville Sunday. … Although Slaton has been bothered by the numbness for several weeks, head coach Gary Kubiak said Friday the condition had worsened in the last day or so and the decision was made to hold him out of practice Friday.

Rough news for Slaton owners, because this was an excellent matchup – not so much in terms of rushing yards, but definitely in the passing game, where Slaton remains a serious weapon (44 REC, 4 TD). Jacksonville's defense has not stopped the pass all year (242.9 YPG, 19 TD) and the team is dead-last in the NFL in sacks (10.0).

Crazily, Slaton refused to attribute his early season fumbling issues to the numb thumb. ("No, I can’t say

• Kurt Warner(notes) and Matt Leinart(notes) split snaps evenly with Arizona's starting offense in Wednesday's practice. Afterward, Warner declared, "Best day yet. These last two days have been a lot better than I felt last week." He wasn't available against Tennessee in Week 12, due to lingering concussion symptoms. That's him pictured above, drawing Leinart a map to Larry Fitzgerald(notes).

Warner has been medically cleared to play in Week 13, but his eyes reportedly remain sensitive to light. He's offering no guarantees. Leinart is not an ideal fallback option for fantasy purposes, but he's all you're likely to have if Warner becomes a game-time decision, because the Cards play on Sunday night. [Arizona Republic]

• The Saints didn't practice on Wednesday, but they issued a hypothetical practice report anyway, listing 18 players. Pierre Thomas(notes) (wrist), Mike Bell(notes) (head/neck) and Reggie Bush(notes) (knee) were among the 14 who would have been limited, had an actual

The objective today is simple. We're evaluating applicants for the role of this year's Pierre Thomas(notes). Someone must be chosen.

Unless you're completely new to our game, you'll recall that PT finished the 2008 season heroically, scoring nine touchdowns in Weeks 11-16 while averaging 112.8 total yards per game. He carried many of us to fantasy titles, if we somehow avoided the DeAngelo buzzsaw in Week 16.

A credible collection of candidates has emerged to be the 2009 version of PT. You're only allowed to vote for one. In order to qualify, a player must meet the following eligibility requirements: A) he became his team's primary ball-carrier at mid-season; B) he was largely unhyped entering the year; C) at some point, he was available via waivers and/or free agency in fantasy leagues.

We're excluding any running back who began the season ranked among the Yahoo! composite top 40, so Rashard Mendenhall(notes), LeSean McCoy(notes), Beanie Wells(notes) and Donald Brown(notes) are not

After guiding the Steelers to a pair of Super Bowl wins and absorbing 221 sacks over six seasons, you'd think Ben Roethlisberger(notes) would have earned a little credibility with his teammates – particularly among pass-catching teammates. But apparently not.

Hines Ward(notes) shared a few Big Ben-related pregame thoughts with NBC's Bob Costas:

"This game is almost like a playoff game. It's almost a must-win. I could see some players or teammates questioning, like 'It's just a concussion. I've played with a concussion before,'" Ward told Costas in an interview taped Saturday at the team's suburban-Baltimore hotel as a prelude to the Steelers-Ravens game.

"It's almost like a 50-50 toss-up in the locker room: Should he play? Shouldn't he play? It's really hard to say. I've been out there dinged up; the following week, got right back out there. Ben practiced all week. He split time with Dennis Dixon(notes). And then to find out that he's still having some headaches and not playing and

Vince Young's(notes) football career has not lacked drama, so we'll resist the temptation to call Sunday's comeback victory over Arizona a signature win.

Hell, it wasn't even Young's biggest win against Matt Leinart(notes). That would be the 2006 Rose Bowl. And it wasn't even his biggest win in the NFL in Week 12. That would be the Kiwanuka game in Young's rookie season.

But if you consider where V.Y. appeared to be in his career arc just one year ago – ruined, forgotten, deeply benched – then Sunday's brilliant effort against the Cardinals has to rank among the more remarkable performances of his career.

Young led a 99-yard drive over the final 2:37, completing three passes on fourth down, including the 10-yard game-winner to Kenny Britt(notes). Video here. Note the patience and touch. Young established new personal highs in both passing yards (387) and pass attempts (43). For the first time in his NFL career, he threw 30 or more passes without committing a turnover. If it wasn't a

Here's a (very) small collection of NFL notes you may have missed on Thursday, while the Broncos were just trying to win a [expletive] game...

• Cedric Benson(notes) (hip) returned to the practice field, but only for rehab work. He'll try for real on Friday. His status for Sunday remains in doubt. You just can't make that call today. Make sure that Bernard Scott(notes) is on call for fantasy purposes, because Cincinnati faces Cleveland in Week 12. The Browns, as you might have heard, aren't good. Cleveland's defense allows 154.9 rushing yards per game and 4.6 per carry. [Cincinnati Enquirer]

• Michael Turner(notes) (ankle) has at least a chance to play in the Week 12 matchup against the NFL's worst run defense. He and Jerious Norwood(notes) both returned to practice on Thursday. Here's the word from head coach Mike Smith(notes): "Jerious is definitely ahead of Mike. Mike is probably going to down to the wire in terms of a game-time decision on if he's going to be able to play or

A very special holiday edition of the Fantasy Freak Show is now available, thanks to the kind folks at The Score WSCR-AM 670. Gather your family 'round the laptop and give it a listen. All the Week 12 matchups were discussed, all questions were answered. (Except Omar's. He bailed).

Please click. There's a marshmallow in every spoonful…

Fantasy Freak Show, Part 1 (Thanksgiving injuries, Rock Cartwright(notes), Andre the Giant)

Fantasy Freak Show, Part 2 (Andre's filmography, buncha games)

Fantasy Freak Show, Part 3 (More Andre, late games, endless calls)

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