As the season progresses and players begin to feel the wear and tear of a 16-game schedule, fantasy owners face a problem they didn’t face in the first few weeks. The NFL injury report lengthens each week, which forces owners to make hair-pulling decisions in their lineups. Problems cannot be solved on the waiver wire, so roster depth and viable bench options become the key to victory.

As Week 5 approaches, many guys may see little to no action due to lingering injuries that limited their practice time. Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook is nursing a sprained ankle from two weeks ago. Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer has a sore throwing elbow. Baltimore’s Willis McGahee has rib problems, and Big Ben has a whole slew of battle wounds in Pittsburgh. Read more »

This Oakland Raiders situation has turned into a real mud slinging party. By the time Lane Kiffin’s firing disappears from the headlines, we will have heard from every former Raiders player, coach, towel boy, janitor and secretary about how [fill in the blank] Al Davis is as an owner. This is what happens when your coach-firing news conference turns into a public pimp slapping. People are going to have opinions.

Monte Poole of the Oakland Tribune points out that Davis seems to be learning from his mistakes and plans to hand over more football control. This franchise, the way I see it, isn’t light years away from contending. It just needs a little jolt, one that would come from Davis taking a step back from the football operations. Read more »