Elvis Dumervil, the NFL’s leading top sacker, says he won’t play at all this season. The Denver Broncos’ pass rusher underwent surgery last month to repair a torn chest muscle, but the team had been holding out hope he’d make a quicker than anticipated recovery and return to action in December.

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Filed under: Steelers, NFL Injuries, NFL Coaching, NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Analysis

If there has ever been a head coach faced with a can't win situation, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin may have faced it this August.

Even before Byron Leftwich suffered a knee injury, Pittsburgh columnists were ripping Tomlin for mishandling the Steelers' quarterback situation. Leftwich wasn't getting enough reps, Ben Roethlisberger was getting too many. Dennis Dixon wasn't ready.

But here's the thing: considering everything that has happened, Tomlin's plan is looking about as good as it could. Now obviously, losing Leftwich to a knee injury is bad. Losing Ben Roethlisberger to a four-game suspension is even worse. But if you consider those the unavoidable obstacles of the preseason, then what Tomlin did has given Pittsburgh about as good a chance to win the next four games as it could.

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Coming into the preseason, Tomlin was faced with the unprecedented and impossible task of readying a healthy franchise quarterback who wouldn't play for the first quarter of the season, a veteran backup who was returning to the team after a year away, a promising young quarterback who needed plenty of practice time and the cagey veteran who's been around forever.

There aren't enough receivers, footballs and preseason games to pull all of that off. Usually a team works on getting two quarterbacks some reps, the third gets enough playing time to show the team what they've got and the fourth just collects garbage time snaps. Pittsburgh had four quarterbacks with legitimate roles.

 

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The New York Giants have acquired quarterback Sage Rosenfels from the Minnesota Vikings for an undisclosed draft pick. A person within the league who is familiar with the trade confirmed the Giants have dealt for Rosenfels to back up Eli Manning. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not officially been announced.

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Filed under: Giants, Vikings, NFC East, NFC North, NFL Rumors

The Minnesota Vikings were facing a logjam at quarterback as they made their final roster cuts by Saturday afternoon. The return of Brett Favre and the strong camp by rookie Joe Webb rendered one of the Vikings other quarterbacks expendable.

If Webb hasn't played like he did, he could have been sent to the practice squad. Once he ripped off long runs against San Francisco and Denver, however, there was no turning back. He wasn't going to clear waivers so the Vikings could put him on the practice squad, and they had to look at either keeping him on the 53-man roster or running the serious risk they would lose him.

Instead, the Vikings had three distinct choices. They could either keep four quarterbacks, cut/trade Tarvaris Jackson, or cut/trade Sage Rosenfels.

 

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The Arizona Cardinals have released outside linebacker Cody Brown, a second-round draft pick out of Connecticut a year ago. Meanwhile, coach Ken Whisenhunt says he has told rookie quarterbacks Max Hall and John Skelton they have made Arizona’s 53-man roster. The fate of Matt Leinart remained uncertain.

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Filed under: Steelers, AFC East, NFL Police Blotter, NFL Quarterbacks, NFL Analysis

Well, it's official. Ben Roethlisberger is the luckiest man alive.

Until Friday I thought it was Thomas Magill. He's the guy that jumped off a 40-story building this week. The poor guy's suicide attempt was foiled when he landed on a two-year-old sports car.

Roethlisberger has been trying to commit career suicide all his adult life. In the latest attempt, he was fortunate to hit on a scared 20-year-old coed.

She didn't want to testify about what happened on the night of March 5th. That pretty much paved the way for what happened Friday, when the NFL reduced Roethlisberger's suspension from six to four games.

The immediate argument was whether Roger Goodell did the right thing. The NFL commissioner didn't leave himself much choice. When Goodell initially suspended Roethlisberger, he said the penalty would be reduced if the Steelers quarterback was a good boy.

Big Ben just had to eat his vegetables, make up his bed every morning and stop being accused of sexual assault on a regular basis. Caligula could do that for five months.

Friday's parole announcement is just the latest lucky twist in Roethlisberger's charmed life. He could easily be dead or in jail; instead a guardian angel always intervenes.

 

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Filed under: Bills, Dolphins, Jets, Patriots, AFC East

Fantasy football week is upon us once again. Each FanHouse NFL division writer used their keen insight to predict the top four fantasy football scorers at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end.

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Andy Kent covers the AFC East.


QUARTERBACKS

1. Tom Brady, New England: 4,100 yards, 30 touchdowns.

Three years removed from setting the record for most touchdown in a season (50) -- and with Randy Moss and an on-the-mend but still sure-handed Wes Welker at his disposal -- Brady is a virtual lock for 4,000-plus passing yards, at least a 62 percent completion rate and shouldn't have too much trouble surpassing 30 touchdown passes while keeping his interceptions in the very low double figures.

2. Chad Henne, Miami: 3,500 yards, 25 touchdowns.

In 13 starts last year with a nondescript receiving corps Henne still managed to throw for almost 3,000 yards (2,878), 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions after being thrown into the fire following Chad Pennington's season-ending shoulder injury. Now he has that experience under his belt and easily one of the top five wide receivers in the league in Brandon Marshall, so 3,500-plus yards, high-50s to low-60s completion percentage, between 25 to 30 touchdowns and closer to 10 interceptions are realistic.

3. Mark Sanchez, New York Jets: 2,600 yards, 20 touchdowns.

The Jets have surrounded him with lots of talent at wide receiver, tight end and running back. But Sanchez is still going to be asked to manage the game more while relying on the running game and the defense to win low-scoring games and not take too many risks. Expect him to lower the number of interceptions from the 20 he had last year and get closer to 20 touchdown passes while staying around 2,500 to 2,750 passing yards and 60 percent completion.

4. Trent Edwards, Buffalo: 3,100 yards, 17 touchdowns.

Edwards can't help but go up from last year's dismal performance in seven starts, even without Terrell Owens, as new Bills coach Chan Gailey works well with quarterbacks. Still, Buffalo will be facing tough defenses within the division and interceptions seem to find this QB at the worst times. If he stays healthy and starts the whole season, Edwards should surpass 3,000 passing yards, but his TD-to-INT ratio will probably be around 17-to-16.


RUNNING BACKS

1. Ronnie Brown, Miami: 1,500 yards, 13 touchdowns.

The last time he was coming back from injury Brown reached the Pro Bowl in 2008 thanks to the Wildcat and some hard running. He and Ricky Williams were on pace to both surpass 1,000 rushing yards last year when he suffered a season-ending foot injury. Brown is due to go start-to-finish this year for between 1,400 and 1,600 rushing yards, at least 300 receiving yards and between 8 to 10 rushing touchdowns and another one to three receiving touchdowns -- if he can stay healthy.

2. Shonn Greene, New York Jets: 1,400 yards, 10 touchdowns.

As a rookie, Greene showed flashes of being an every-down running back, which made Jets coach Rex Ryan and the front office feel comfortable with letting Thomas Jones go. Now that he will be the featured back in a run-first offense, Greene appears capable of a 1,300 to 1,500-yard season and nine to 11 rushing touchdowns, but LaDainian Tomlinson will eat up the receiving yards and receptions.

3. Ricky Williams, Miami: 1,200 yards, 9 touchdowns.

This remains a very potent one-two tandem for the Dolphins, and when Brown went down last year Williams showed he had plenty left in the tank to carry a ground attack. He is just as a good a receiver out of the backfield as Brown and rushed for 1,121 yards in just seven starts, so he can easily stretch that to 1,300-plus yards and seven to nine rushing touchdowns along with another 275 to 300 receiving yards and one or two touchdown receptions.

4. C.J. Spiller, Buffalo: 1,100 yards, 10 touchdowns.

He wasn't supposed to be thrust into a featured role as a rookie, but injuries to Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch forced the Bills to utilize him that way in the last two preseason games and he has responded well. Even if Jackson and Lynch come back 100 percent, Spiller is a fantasy star waiting to happen with his versatility. Spiller should be good for 600 to 800 rushing yards, another 500 receiving yards and a combined 10 touchdowns.

 

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Fantasy football week is upon us once again. Each FanHouse NFL division writer used their keen insight to predict the top four fantasy football scorers at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end.

Find out why Ronnie Brown and Carson Palmer will return to the top, how Marion Barber and Ahmad Bradshaw are the most viable options in the NFC East, what makes Dustin Keller the top tight end in the AFC East and where Arian Foster figures in a backfield-loaded AFC South.

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Filed under: Broncos, Chargers, Chiefs, Raiders, AFC West

Fantasy football week is upon us once again. Each FanHouse NFL division writer used their keen insight to predict the top four fantasy football scorers at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end.

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Dennis Georgatos covers the AFC West.


QUARTERBACKS

1. Philip Rivers, San Diego: 4,000 yards passing, 30 touchdowns, 8 interceptions.

With LaDainian Tomlinson gone, the Chargers are Rivers' team all the way. His numbers in the last couple of years put him in an elite category and he's still got plenty of weapons in San Diego to distribute the ball to.

2. Kyle Orton, Denver: 3,902 yards passing, 24 touchdowns, 11 interceptions.

Orton is comfortable now with Josh McDaniels' complicated offense and should build on his career year last season

3. Jason Campbell, Oakland: 3,425 yards passing, 20 touchdowns, 14 interceptions.

Campbell, with his strong arm, should thrive in the Raiders' high-risk, high-reward passing attack.

4. Matt Cassel, Kansas City: 3,200 yards passing, 18 touchdowns, 15 interceptions

Cassel has nowhere to go but up after struggling in his first full season as a starter in Kansas City.

 

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Filed under: Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Steelers, AFC North

Fantasy football week is upon us once again. Each FanHouse NFL division writer used their keen insight to predict the top four fantasy football scorers at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and tight end.

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Barry Barnes covers the AFC North.

 

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