• It’s been feast-or-famine with Giant DE Justin Tuck in sack-heavy leagues this year, so hopefully you had him in your starting lineup for his second 3-sack performance of the year on Sunday night. He also forced 2 fumbles. Tuck is up to 7 sacks on the season, but hadn’t had one since Week Five. In standard scoring or tackle-heavy leagues, Tuck has still been a solid contributor as he’s on pace for a career high in tackles. DE Osi Umenyiora still leads the team with 8 sacks, but hasn’t had one since Week Six, but he has also been a decent tackle contributor. Recall Umenyiora had an injection in his left knee before Week 4 that gave him a boost for a few games, as well as is playing through right knee problems and a hip injury that probably needs surgery in the offseason. I keep starting him as a high risk/high return bet, but make sure you have a good back-up if he goes down for the fantasy playoffs.
  
  
• Philadelphia DE Juqua Parker aggravated a hip flexor strain he originally suffered last Monday night and played sparingly on Sunday night. After falling off the grid for a few weeks, rookie DL Brandon Graham stepped up and took advantage of more reps, posting 2 tackles and a nice forced fumble when he ripped the ball away from Giants RB Ahmad Bradshaw that led to a FG. DE Darryl Tapp will also benefit if Parker misses time.
  
  
• I jinxed Atlanta DE John Abraham last week by mentioning in this column he was in the midst of the most impressive streak of health in his career. Seemingly on cue, Abraham was inactive on Sunday with a groin injury. He hasn’t practiced yet this week, so his status is in question.
  
  
• The DLine in Minnesota is starting to turn around. DE Ray Edwards had a pair of sacks and DE Jared Allen had another, giving him 4.5 in the last three games.
  
  
• A frustrated Oakland DT Richard Seymour smacked Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger, who appears to lay some trash talk on him after a TD, and was ejected from the game. Desmond Bryant replaced him. Seymour was fined, but apparently will not be not be suspended. RDE Trevor Scott tore his left ACL in the game and is done for the season. Matt Shaughnessy will take his place and gets a big bump to his value. The team signed Jarvis Moss, the former first-round pick recently released by Denver, for depth. Moss struggled at making the transition to 3-4 OLB and now will get an opportunity to show what he can do as a DE.
  
  
• While his value in real football terms hasn’t been translating to fantasy productivity much of the season, patient owners of Chicago DE Julius Peppers were rewarded 3-sack performance on Thursday night. He still has just 5 on the season.
  
  
• The DE situation in Cincinnati got some clarity due to injuries, for what it is worth – the Bengals have a league-low 10 sacks on the season. DE Jonathan Fanene couldn’t return from his hamstring injury and was placed on the IR last week, as was DE Frostee Rucker with a knee injury. DE Antwan Odom was activated from the suspended list this week after missing four weeks on suspension and another when the team used the subsequent roster exemption for him. He had surgery for a broken wrist over the suspension and is unlikely to play this week. The team will likely remain with Michael Johnson starting at RDE, until Odom returns, and Robert Geathers at LDE, while rookie Carlos Dunlap rotates in. The team should just start Johnson and Dunlap at this point to see what they need to do in the offseason to address their impotent pass rush. The team added DE Victor Adeyanju, a career reserve with the Rams before he was released, for depth.
  
  
• Jacksonville continued with rookie Austen Lane starting at RDE as the replacement to Aaron Kampman, who is done for the season, and Jeremy Mincey at LDE over Derrick Harvey. Playing through a broken hand, Mincey picked up a pair of sacks. Rotating in, Harvey also had his first solo sack of the season. Rookie Larry Hart is rotating with Lane and neither has shown much promise yet in their limited auditions.
  
  
• With DE Marcus Spears on the IR and rookie DE Sean Lissemore out 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain, the Dallas DLine got a boost with the early return of DE Jason Hatcher from a groin injury.
  
  
• New England DE Mike Wright, who leads the team with 5.5 sacks, left Sunday early with a concussion. He is highly questionable this week.
  
  
• Teams allowing the most sacks this season (start your pass rushers against them):
  1. Chicago (37)
  2. Arizona (35)
  3. Oakland (32)
  4. Carolina (30)
  5. Washington, Philadelphia (28)
  
  
• Top waiver wire recommendations for the week: Matt Shaughnessy has shown some pass rush ability in limited opportunities, now he gets an extended opportunity as a full-time player. I mentioned Charles Johnson last week, specifically for his Week 15 playoff match-up with Arizona, but he is on a hot streak, getting 7 tackles for the second consecutive game and a sack on Sunday.

Linebacker

• Indianapolis remained without MLB Gary Brackett (turf toe) and WLB Clint Session (fractured right forearm and dislocated elbow) on Sunday. The replacements remained rookie Pat Angerer in the middle, who led the team with 12 tackles (9 solo) and a platoon of rookie Kavell Conner and Tyjuan Hagler, with Conner getting the start again, at WLB. Brackett remains uncertain for this week, but he seems more likely to return than Session.
  
  
• A depleted Denver LB corps took more hits on Sunday as ILB D.J. Williams suffered a concussion and OLB Jason Hunter, who has been impressive in his conversion from 4-3 DE, left the game early. Wesley Woodyard replaced Williams next to Joe Mays on the inside. Mays led the team with 11 tackles (9 solo, including 2 on special teams). Despite all the injuries, the team still saw fit to release former first-round pick Jarvis Moss this week who has been a bust in learning to be a 3-4 OLB. The team added David Veikune last week, who was released by Cleveland early this season, and can play both inside and outside. OLB Robert Ayers returned to practice from a broken foot, but isn’t expected to play this week.
  
  
• Green Bay OLB Clay Matthews had another sack on Sunday, moving his league lead up to 11.5 sacks on the season.
  
  
• Another game, another double-digit tackle performance for New England ILB Jerod Mayo. He led the team with 15 tackles (11 solo), his seventh double-digit tackle performance of the season. Mayo leads the league by a comfortable margin with 120 tackles on the season.
  
  
• OLB Scott Fujita was inactive after suffering some a knee injury in the previous game. HC Eric Mangini has said he expects him to return this season, but has offered no timeline and hasn’t revealed the exact nature of the injury. David Bowens continues to replace him opposite Matt Roth. Reserve OLB Marcus Benard, who attributed his collapse in the locker room last week to stress, was active and had a sack.
  
  
• Atlanta rookie SLB Sean Weatherspoon was active after missing his fourth straight game with a right knee sprain, but did not start and was limited to work in some passing schemes. Stephen Nicholas continued to start, but the return of Weatherspoon will eat in to his numbers and could eventually put him back on the bench despite his strong play in Weatherspoon’s absence.
  
  
• Houston WLB Zach Diles missed Sunday’s game after being hospitalized with heart palpitations and flu-like symptoms. Rookie Darryl Sharpton got the start in his place and had 5 tackles (3 solo). Diles is expected to return this week. SLB Brian Cushing had just 4 solo tackles, but forced a fumble and was getting some good pressure on jets QB Mark Sanchez. Kevin Bentley continued to look more comfortable in his new MLB role, leading the team with 8 tackles (6 solo) and forcing 2 turnovers, grabbing a pick and recovering a fumble.
  
  
• Arizona OLB Will Davis is done for the season with a broken leg. Rookie O'Brien Schofield replaced him because Clark Haggans missed his third straight game. Haggans is expected back this week.
  
  
• Top waiver wire recommendations of the week: Kevin Bentley settling in at MLB and Joe Mays taking advantage of injuries are the two guys I like this week who might be available in medium-to-shallow leagues.
  
  

Defensive Back

• Cincinnati LCB Johnathan Joseph grabbed picks on consecutive drives, returning the second for a TD, but aggravated a right high ankle sprain on the return that saw him miss two games earlier this season. Joseph should be out this week and could miss more time. Corner thinned out more when rookie CB Brandon Ghee aggravated a groin injury on the opening kickoff of the second half. He is yet to practice this week, same for reserve CB Rico Murray who has an ankle sprain. The team added Jonathan Wade and Fred Bennett this week and one of them could be starting opposite Leon Hall this week. The news at safety was even worse, where SS Roy Williams suffered a concussion and FS Chris Crocker torn his right MCL and was placed on the IR this week. Reggie Nelson replaced Crocker in the starting lineup and Chinedum Ndukwe will start at SS if Williams isn’t ready to go this week.
  
  
• A scary scene when Philadelphia CB Ellis Hobbs was lying motionless for several minutes after getting hit returning the opening kick-off of the second half Sunday night. Replay showed Hobbs’ neck contorting awkwardly after an incidental helmet-to-helmet hit knocked him down. He tried to get up under his own power and had to be talked in to being carted off by HC Andy Reid. Fortunately x-rays were negative and he has no paralysis, but an MRI showed a damaged disc in his neck and he has been placed on the IR. It is the second separate disc injury to his neck in less than a year, having surgery and going on the IR last December for a similar injury. Hobbs recently was battling a hip flexor that had contributed to him losing his starting role. CB Dimitri Patterson, who appeared to have moved ahead of Hobbs on performance over injury anyway, is now locked in as a starter for the rest of the year opposite Asante Samuel. Patterson led the team in tackles with 7 (6 solo). Two weeks ago Samuel had two picks off Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning and on Sunday night he grabbed two off his brother. On the second, Samuel was a little careless with the ball and fumbled it during the return, which the Giants recovered for a fresh set of downs. However, no damage was done when Giants QB Eli Manning coughed up the ball after a scramble because he didn’t slide properly. Samuel is in sole possession of the league lead in interceptions with 7 on the season. While they lost one player to a neck injury, they got one back as rookie FS Nate Allen returned after missing a game with a neck strain.
  
  
• The Cleveland offense failed to fully capitalize on an amazing six turnovers forced by the defense. SS Abram Elam got the first turnover with his first pick since 2008 in the second quarter. The Browns punted on that drive. Then in the second half, the Jaguars turned the ball over on five consecutive drives, that Cleveland managed to turn in to just 10 points, 7 of that scored by the defense. It was Elam again who started the party when he stripped Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew and returned it 18 yards to give Cleveland a 14-10 lead. On the next drive, rookie FS T.J. Ward grabbed his first career pick off a pass tipped by CB Sheldon Brown. The resulting drive for Cleveland was a punt. The next drive has Jacksonville QB David Garrard throw in to double coverage when pressured by OLB Matt Roth and first-round pick CB Joe Haden intercepted the pass. The Browns got a FG out of that drive that started in Jacksonville’s red zone. Reserve DB Ray Ventrone forced a fumble on the next drive, but the offense went three-and-out. On the ensuing drive, a pass bounced off Jacksonville TE Marcedes Lewis into Ward’s hands for his second pick of the game, and his career. A missed FG was the result by the offense after that. Ward and Brown both missed tackles on the screen pass and 75-yard run by Jones-Drew that set up the game-winning TD run after Haden dragged him down at the one-yard line. Brown played through a sore shoulder and started despite Haden pushing him recently for the starting job. Haden began the game as the nickel with veteran CB Mike Adams inactive with an ab injury. However, CB Eric Wright left the game during the first series after banging his left knee and did not return. Haden filled in for him at LCB. Wright has also been inconsistent this year and Haden could replace him based on performance before the end of the season too. HC Eric Mangini said Wright could have played if needed, but was held out as a precaution. Newly-signed CB Eric King was thrown in to the fire as the nickel corner. With some holes in the LB corps, Ward has a commanding team lead in tackles on the season with 80, averaging 8 tackles a game as a rookie.
  
  
• The Jaguars were able to overcome six turnovers by the offense and the only one they had on defense on Sunday clinched the victory. In the prevent defense with seconds left, a pass to Cleveland TE Ben Watson was tipped by reserve S Sean Considine and after the ball bounced off Watson, It landed in Considine’s arms to seal the win. Considine was bumped out of starting role earlier in the season by youngsters Courtney Greene and Don Carey earlier in the season. The Jaguars released CB Chevis Jackson last week. The former third-round pick of Atlanta wasn’t part of the solution to their struggles in the coverage and only lasted a month in Jacksonville.
  
  
• A lingering left Achilles’ tendon injury has forced Washington SS LaRon Landry out of action. He is doubtful this week and it is a concern for the rest of the season as it has gotten progressively worse. Reed Doughty started in his place and shared the team lead in tackles with ILB London Fletcher with 7 (5 solo). CB Carlos Rogers was also a scratch with a hamstring injury and sounds unlikely to play this week. Phillip Buchanon replaced and created 2 turnovers, grabbing his first pick of the season and recovering a fumble, as well as getting 6 solo tackles. Buchanon has been quite a playmaker lately, flashing the big play skills he showed early in his career. In the last three games, starting only one, he has 10 solo tackles, 2 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a pick. He’s an interesting spot start against a struggling Brett Favre this week if Rogers is out.
  
  
• SS Troy Polamalu is playing through a strained right Achilles’ tendon. Similar to LaRon Landry, beware this becoming a bigger issue.
  
  
• Despite a decent debut at SS in Detroit, it appears rookie Amari Spievey will surrender his starting role back to C.C. Brown and it will be a fantasy-unfriendly platoon.
  
  
• In San Francisco, Reggie Smith has now replaced rookie Taylor Mays as the starting strong safety. FS Dashon Goldson added right ankle sprain to the litany of injuries he’s trying to play through this year when he left Sunday’s game early after injuring the foot.
  
  
• The Cinderella Story of Dallas rookie CB Bryan McCann continued on Sunday. After setting a team record with 101-yard interception return for a TD, he showed why he was originally brought up when he made a semi-risky grab on a punt Detroit had tipped back out of the end zone trying to down it deep in Dallas territory and returned it 97 yards for a TD.
  
  
• Oakland CB Nnamdi Asomugha remained inactive off the bye with a right ankle sprain and he is questionable again this week.
  
  
• Miami FS Chris Clemons was inactive with a strained hamstring and he was replaced by rookie Reshad Jones.
  
  
• Top waiver wire recommendations of the week: Dimitri Patterson has job security as a starter and should continue to be tested with Asante Samuel leading the league in picks. Drop Taylor Mays and pick up Reggie Smith.