Third Quarter

Kurt Warner suffered a head and/or neck injury late in the second half at St. Louis, then went to the locker room ahead of his teammates. Matt Leinart has taken over at quarterback for the Cardinals. Arizona led 21-3 at half, so Warner seems unlikely to return. He gave his fantasy owners 203 yards and two TDs prior to the injury.

• At halftime in New England, the Patriots had 221 net passing yards and the Jets had just six. It's not Mark Sanchez's best day so far. He was 2-for-9 with no touchdowns and two interceptions at half. Wes Welker has eight receptions for 139 yards after two quarters. Randy Moss caught a 4-yard TD with Darrelle Revis looking on.

• If you started Bernard Scott, Larry Johnson or Brian Leonard in Week 11, just skip to the next bullet. This will make you ill:

Carson Palmer, TD vulture.

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Ricky Williams is clearly possessed. Probably by an ancient Hittite demigod. Williams nearly reached his age (32) in fantasy points on Thursday night in a three-touchdown performance against the Panthers. He carried 22 times for 119 yards and added two receptions for 19.

It was a dominant performance from Williams, highlighted by a 46-yard fourth quarter TD run. Video here via NFL.com. After a slight miscalculation by Carolina linebacker Jon Beason, Williams legitimately outran a pair of NFL corners on his way to the goal line for his third score

Ricky is not to be benched for the foreseeable future, not with Ronnie Brown on IR. Williams was No. 6 in the Yahoo! composite running back rankings this week, and he'll likely be higher in Week 12. (And by "higher" we mean, you know, in the ranks). Miami travels to Buffalo next Sunday to face the NFL's worst run defense.

Lex Hilliard looked strong as well. He picked up 31 total yards on six touches and lost a 13-yard gain due to a penalty. If you're handcuffing Ricky – or simply looking for a desperation flex option in a giant league – Hilliard is your guy. Pat White was only a rumor on Thursday.

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REMINDER: The deadline to make trades in public leagues is Friday, November 20. After that date, you won't be able to get Smoot On A Boat to deal Beanie Wells, even if he finally agrees that TJ Houshmandzadeh is fair compensation. Act now! 

Larry Johnson practiced with the Bengals for the first time on Wednesday. He'll reportedly be active on Sunday if Cedric Benson (hip) can't go, though Bernard Scott and Brian Leonard are expected to get more touches. Benson reportedly did not dress for Thursday's practice.

Everyone seems to be using the word "guarded" to describe Benson's reaction to the LJ signing, but really, his comments seem reasonable and harmless:

Benson was guarded in his first comments since Johnson joined the team. He said that he realizes that football can be more of a business than a game.

"I didn't know I was supposed to be jumping out of my seat or anything. I really have no feelings about it," Benson said. "They made a move they felt they needed to do, and that's fine with me. It's not going to affect me in any kind of way. Whatever happens from here on, I can guarantee you I'll definitely be making the best of it.

"In most cases you hold your fate in your own hands. I'm not letting up in any aspect of what I'm doing. I would imagine that I would continue to be the first guy, and if not, I'll make it that way."

That seems OK. Nothing to see there. Unless of course LJ finds the end zone against the Raiders, which isn't all that far-fetched. If that happens, we'll need to reevaluate Cedric's mood.

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No byes this week, so no excuses. Today we're only accepting complaints from people who own Michael Turner (high ankle sprain), Ronnie Brown (foot/ankle) and Cedric Benson (hip).

It's not as if Brian Westbrook (concussion), Julius Jones (lung) or Dwayne Bowe (unwanted pounds) were carrying your fantasy team anyway.

Please enjoy the preliminary Week 11 ranks, free of charge…

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For approximately 56 minutes of game time, the Patriots controlled their Sunday night matchup against Indianapolis. They led 34-21 with 4:12 remaining in the fourth quarter following Stephen Gostkowski's 36-yard field goal. 

And then a strange alliance formed between Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. Manning directed a pair of touchdown drives, the second of which was set up by an odd decision from Belichick.

Faced with a fourth-and-2 at the New England 28 with 2:08 on the clock, Belichick decided to go for a first down…which no one does, ever. If his team would have punted and done it reasonably well, Indianapolis would have needed to cover perhaps 70-75 yards in their final possession.

Instead, after Tom Brady's pass to Kevin Faulk resulted in only a 1-yard gain, the Patriots gave the ball to Manning at the 29, just outside the red zone. Peyton completed a 15-yard pass to Reggie Wayne, then handed off to Joseph Addai for 13. At that point, with the ball at the goal line, the Colts began running time off the clock. Manning eventually hit Wayne for a 1-yard score (beautiful catch) and Matt Stover's extra point was good, leaving the Pats with a one-point deficit and not nearly enough time.

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That's Jacksonville running back Maurice Jones-Drew pictured above, ruining your fantasy week near the end of a 123-yard rushing performance.

The Jaguars trailed the Jets 22-21 late in the fourth quarter, but they had the ball at New York's 10-yard line. A field goal from that distance is basically a layup. The game clock was at 1:48. The Jets were without timeouts. Jones-Drew took the handoff from quarterback David Garrard and ran up the middle…where he was met with no resistance whatsoever.

New York's defense moved at half-speed, conceding the touchdown. The Jets were in an odd game-management situation in which they needed Jacksonville to score quickly, having no other way to stop the clock. Rather than accommodate them, Jones-Drew took a knee at the 1-yard line, declining the TD. You'll find the highlight here beginning at the 1:45 mark.

Jets corners Darrelle Revis and Lito Sheppard did everything possible to allow MJD to score, short of actually carrying him over the goal line on their shoulders. By kneeling at the one, Jones-Drew allowed the Jaguars to run the clock down to the final tick and then kick a 21-yard field goal.

"Brilliant!" said the announcers.

"Brilliant!" said the five people who actually cheer for the Jaguars.

"[EXPLETIVE]!" said those of us who needed six more points from MJD.

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Another disturbing episode of the Yahoo! Fantasy Freak Show is complete, thanks to the efforts of the radio giants at The Score WSCR-AM 670 in Chicago. We discussed all the Week 10 matchups, answered many questions (approximately 80 of them about Mike Sims-Walker(notes)) and Brad revealed icky things about himself that you will not be able to un-hear.

Please enjoy!

Freak Show, Part 1

Freak Show, Part 2

Freak Show, penalty time

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Photo via Getty Images 

Thursday night's 10-6 loss to the Niners was uncommonly ugly, even by the standards of the 2009 Bears. It was weapons-grade ugly. Ten-penalty ugly. McNown ugly. It was…well, it was really very ugly.

Jay Cutler has thrown 15 interceptions in five road games this season. Sure, blame for a few of the picks can be shared with Bears receivers, but still: 15 in five games. There's no way to diminish that achievement. Thursday's game-ending turnover was particularly disturbing. Earl Bennett is probably still standing in the end zone uncovered, wondering why he can't get a look.

Professional that he is, Cutler has apologized to his teammates. It may not be the last time he asks for forgiveness this season, as the Bears still have Philadelphia, Baltimore and Minnesota (twice) on the schedule. Sid Luckman's 52-year-old team record for interceptions may yet fall. 

But let us speak no more of Bears…

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When presented with an opportunity to soften his witheringly accurate assessment of Thursday's Bears-Niners matchup ("I think we can destroy them"), Vernon Davis did no such thing:

"I wasn't saying it to put anybody down," Davis said Wednesday. … "I'm just being confident."

As he should be, because his team's offense actually should destroy the Bears' defense. We've discussed that situation at length already. Here are a few more fun facts to get you fired up for the '09 debut of Thursday Night Football:

• Matt Millen is in the booth, talking! Wooooo!

• The Niners have lost four straight, while the Bears have dropped three of four!

• Jay Cutler has thrown 10 interceptions in four road games so far this year!

• Former Niners offensive coordinator Mike Martz didn't particularly like either San Francisco quarterback!

• Matt Forte is averaging 3.6 yards per carry and the Niners are allowing 3.4! 

That's, um…well, that's all I've got. Enjoy the game, America. Should be a barnburner. Serious draft position playoff implications. Mike likes this kinda party.

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Four different Colts had at least nine pass targets on Sunday, as Peyton Manning threw for over 300 yards for the seventh time this season. Manning has actually topped 300 passing yards in 10 of his last 12 games dating back to last season, including the playoff loss to San Diego.

Reggie Wayne is second at his position in per-game pass targets (10.8), Dallas Clark is first among tight ends (9.1) and Joseph Addai is fifth among running backs (5.1). In Yahoo! public leagues, Indianapolis players currently rank among the top six in per-game scoring at every position except running back, where Addai is 12th. 

At this point, every possible step must be taken to ensure not only the safety of these Colts, but also their full participation through Week 16. The Indianapolis offense is much too big to fail. Or to rest. The AFC's only undefeated team needs to start losing, soon. If the Colts are allowed to clinch home field advantage in mid-December, it will be a fantasy disaster. Do your part, New England. Just please don't hurt anyone.

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