Carolina at Cincinnati 1:00 p.m.
Thanks to a late INT by Jack Delhomme, the Panthers suffered their first defeat with WR Steve Smith in the line-up. In a game where Carolina lost the time of possession battle 35 to 25, the one and only turnover in the game lost it.
DeShaun Foster (14/59)was unable to rack-up big rushing yardage against a previously-suspect Cincinnati defense.
The previously-resurgent Panthers' defense was unable to stop the previously-sinking Rudi Johnson on the ground (26/101) and that allowed a fantasy-disappointing Carson Palmer to provide an efficient performance (23/39/240/2 with no INTs.)
However, fantasy 2nd round pick, WR Charles Johnson, continued to be the 2nd best fantasy WR on his team to the #2 Bengal receiving option, TJ Houshmandzadeh, who had one more reception and 12 fewer yards but one TD (6/61/1).
Detroit at N.Y. Jets 1:00 p.m.
The Jets did not fall into a trap game. They got out to a quick 14-0 lead and only needed to hang-on in the 4th quarter as Detroit made the game closer than it actually was.
While the Lions did run the ball OK, it wasn't to the 140+ yards per game level the Jets had been allowing. RB Kevin Jones "only" had 86 yards rushing - a decent total but not what his fantasy owners expected.
Jon Kitna had a good game with 269 yards and two TDs but threw 2 INTs. He did target WR Mike Furrey, who bounced back from several bad weeks with a career-best 109 yards and a score.
After being pathetic for the first six games, the Jets running game exploded against the DT-less Lions defense. Rookie Rb looked like the faster player on the field as he amassed 129 yards and two TDs on 20 carries. Even Kevan Barlow had a "good" game with 49 yards on tweleve carries (4.1 ypc) and a TD.
The previously-invisible Jerricho Cothcery rebounded from his 5/55 combined totals over the previous two games with 7 receptions and 79 yards. Most came in earlier in the game, but that number of receptions keeps him from falling off the fantasy radar.