This week, what makes week 17 strategy different, who's still fighting and who's playing in meaningless games, Matt Leinart is "out for the season", the rise of Cleo Lemon, why you should avoid Ken Dorsey, why it's safe to drop Marcus Robinson, and your questions!

E-mail us at ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com (put the words "Playoff League" in the subject line) to enter our Playoff Fantasy League! The winner gets a copy of Just Kick It, the new book by Mark St. Amant, author of Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie!

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Cadillac Williams has been downgraded to out for Week 16's matchup against Cleveland. He was not on the plane with the rest of the team.

Michael Pittman will start in Cadillac's place, with Mike Alstott expected to get 3rd down and goal line carries. If you were relying on Cadillac, Pittman might not be a terrible play given the matchup, if you're lacking in alternatives.

Maurice Jones-Drew owners, the news you've been waiting for all season has arrived. Fred Taylor has been downgraded to out for Week 16's game against the Patriots. Granted, the Pats are a tough matchup, but there's no possible way you can sit MoJo unless your other rubbing backs are LT and LJ. Get him in your lineup if you have him.

49ers WR Antonio Bryant has been suspended for four games as a resuilt of his drunk driving arrest last month. Should the Niners miss the playoffs, Bryant's suspension would carry over to the first two games of 2007. Bryant's been inconsistent of late anyway, so hopefully you haven't been relying on him; he's obviously safe to drop at this point.

Bryan Gilmore will assume a starting role, if you're in a bind. Expect Vernon Davis to see more balls going his way as well, so he may be worth a start this week if you were on the fence.

Extra Points #68: Week Sixteen 2006 This week, whether Lovie Smith's proclamation that all his starters will start applies to Thomas Jones, it's time to talk about Fred Taylor's hamstring again, whether Joseph Addai's high ankle sprain opens the door for Dominic Rhodes, we take another spin on the QB carousel with Tarvaris Jackson and Tim Rattay, and your championship questions!

E-mail us at ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com (put the words "Playoff League" in the subject line) to enter our Playoff Fantasy League! The winner gets a copy of Just Kick It, the new book by Mark St. Amant, author of Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie!

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E-mail us at ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com, or join our message board at http://extrapoints.forumup.com!

This week, Kevin Jones introduces us to the Lisfranc injury, Darrell Jackson succumbs to turf toe, both Atlanta's running backs go down, the Fred Taylor injury watch resumes, Doug Gabriel is no longer Patriotic, the Dolphins finally put Culpepper out of his misery and your questions!

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Clarity from the Patriots: Will wonders never cease?

Both Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson have been ruled out for Week 14's game against Miami. Jackson's been a non-entity for the most part in New England, so that should affect the receiving situation significantly. Upgrade Dillon slightly, but keep in mind that the matchup is a formidable one; he's still not a great option, but he's a better one than he would be if he were sharing carries.

If you're like me, every so often, you're watching Monday Night Football and you think, "If I hear Joe Theismann say one more stupid comment, I'm going to go insane." Well, we at Extra Points value your sanity, so here's instructions on how to mute the announcers while still hearing all the sounds of the game. You'll need a surround sound system for this to work, but it might just be worth picking one up if you don't already have one to be able to watch MNF sans Theismann.

Sunday Ticket on cable, here we come!

Outgoing Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Arlen Specter is threatening to introduce legislation aimed at eliminating the NFL's exemption from antitrust laws. Specter specifically mentioned the NFL's exclusive arrangement with DirecTV to carry NFL Sunday Ticket. The thought is that the senator is attempting to pressure the NFL into making voluntary changes as opposed to having legislation forced upon them.

I, for one, am all for it. Sure, there are more important things that the Senate could be discussing, but I'd love to be able to get all the NFL games without having to switch to DirecTV, as would many of us, I'd imagine. Let's hope that the NFL hears the Senator loud and clear and makes some changes before next season...

ESPN is confirming that Jake Delhomme is expected to miss Sunday's game against the Giants. Chris Weinke would be making his first start in almost 5 years.

While one Carolina offensive starter is on his way out, another is poised to come back. DeShaun Foster practiced yesterday (Wed.), and is probable for Sunday. John Fox said that if Foster is healthy, he will have the #1 RB spot, ahead of impressive rookie DeAngelo Williams.

So if you were planning on starting Williams this weekend, you may want to reconsider (though keep up with the news in case Foster's condition takes a turn for the worse).

This week, Charlie Frye hurts his wrist, Steelers receivers are dropping like flies,Chester Taylor's bruised ribs, Laurence Maroney may or may not be hurt (but if we told you then we'd have to kill you), an excuse to drop Michael Clayton is you haven't already, and your questions!

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The Charlotte Observer is reporting that Panthers QB Jake Delhomme has a partially torn ligament in his thumb and could miss Week 14's game against the Giants. If he does sit, Chris Weinke would start at QB. If you're relying on any Carolina players this week, monitor this situation closely; as disappointing as Delhomme has been this season, if he doesn't play, the whole offense could suffer.

Whatchoo talkin' bout, Willis? (Sorry, couldn't resist.) We're talking about Willis' ankle injury that kept him out of practice Wednesday. McGahee was wearing a protective boot that is supposed to come off Thursday, and he sounded optimistic about his chances of playing Sunday against the Jets. It goes without saying that you should be paying close attention to the Sunday inactives if you intend to start McGahee, and you'll probably want to sit him anyway unless the news over the next two days is overwhelmingly positive, considering that the Bills play in the late game this week.

Of course, if Anthony Thomas is available following McGahee's return, you might want to look into grabbing him while you can if you need RB help. Even if McGahee does play, he could be limited if the ankle gives him trouble.

Congrats to everyone who's made their playoffs or are about to!  If you need help with the critical first round, e-mail us at ExtraPointsPodcast@gmail.com.  We'll try to get as many questions as we receive by the time we start recording (around 8 PM Eastern on Tuesday, 12/5) answered on the show.  And even if you come up with questions after that, we're always available to help out via e-mail, so get those questions in!

A friendly reminder: The Bengals and Ravens play tonight, so make sure to get your lineups set if you're looking to start anyone on either of those teams.  (Of course, chances are you won't be able to actually see the game because of NFL Network stupidity, but that's beside the point...)

So by now, you've probably seen the Madden 2007 commercial where Dallas Clark gets levelled by two defenders. Well, that commercial was apparently done by the guys from Red vs. Blue, and Clark was none too happy with them for it, because he felt that it made him "look like a punk" among other things.

Well, apparently the Red vs. Blue guys don't want football players who could theoretically tear them apart with their bare hands angry at them, so they've posted an apology as well as a director's cut of the commercial, which you can see in this post. Pretty funny stuff, so I thought I'd share.