Pierre Thomas update of the week...

My current fave deep sleeper is making news yet again.

Sean Payton thought that Reggie Bush did a good job against the Panthers last week in his first action as the featured back. However, in his Monday press conference Coach Payton did mention that he wants to get some other backs in the mix.

"I said yesterday that I thought Reggie handled the running back duties fairly well. I thought that with (Aaron) Stecker and Pierre (Thomas), maybe I can be a little more balanced in regards to getting them some more touches."

Does this mean that we'll see Pierre on the field some more? I have to think so - the week before they played New Orleans, Tampa Bay ran all over the Panthers defense to the tune of a total 180+ yds.

Gregg Rosenthal has a good blog entry about the "death nell" that is having fifty offensive snaps or under. What is important to keep track of here though, is that the Panthers only had 47 snaps to the 75 of the Saints. How did the Saints not win the game? Was it simply offensive turnovers and you can't make the Saints defense try to stop anybody?

The Saints need to get back to pounding the football with the run game. I think we proved that Bush, while a great talent, is not going to get it done unless he changes his style (or his OL plays better).

When Payton was asked how Pierre Thomas fared in his first NFL game, he said...

"I think that Pierre played well on special teams. He played in a limited role as a runner, there's a place to increase his touches I think as we move on here, but he did a real good job here for his first time out covering kicks, blocking, returning kicks, so that was encouraging. We had a couple young guys that stood out."

Is the Pierre Thomas era about to begin?

Players I like this week...

Short list - but here are a few players that I think might have a big week this week.

Jason Wright RB, CLE
Jamal Lewis is reported out this week (wearing a boot a practice seems like a sign). The Dolphins are giving up over 170+ yds on the ground. Sounds like a gimme to me. He might not get the TDs, but I would think he'll have a big yardage day.

Greg Olsen TE, CHI
Griese targeted Olsen 7 times last week compared to Desmond Clark's 4 targets, and the Vikings are giving up 75 yards receiving to the TE position.

Jason Campbell QB, WAS
The Packers 23rd ranked pass defense goes against a guy that was without his top two WRs last week and still had a great game. Call it a feeling, but I think it's only a matter of time before Gibbs lets him loose. Anyone that can make Keenan McCardell look good (isn't this guy 60 years old or something?), is doing well.

Reggie Brown WR, PHI
Many people have written him off as dead, but against the Jets and after a bye week, I think this is the week Brown puts up a good performance. If you're struggling with byes, this might be the only week that Brown does well all year! Take a risk and plug him in.

Is your fantasy football team hurting? Do you need a priest?

Priest Holmes recently said that he is 90% and ready to go.

Not sure if many of you saw Hard Knocks on HBO this past summer...but there was one piece with Dick Vermeil talking with Herman Edwards that sticks out for me. Dick was saying to Herm that when Priest says "I'm at this percent" he believes him. Dick went on to say that Priest knows his body better than anyone he ever coached.

This report from the Kansas City Star goes into more detail about Holmes' current situation.

Larry Johnson isn't exactly blowing things up right now. Maybe....exactly why we might not have seen the last of Priest Holmes. Yeah, he turns 34 this month. Sure, he wasn't drafted. He's gotten older and slower. But that stuff just motivates Priest. It's hard to forget 66 touchdowns in three years.

Keep an eye on him, and stash him on your IR if it's available. After week six when he comes off the PUP, the Chiefs have three weeks to evaluate him to see if he's ready to play.

Tony Romo got lucky.

If you didn't see the entire Dallas / Bills game on Monday night, you missed something special. Tony Romo, however, did not put together an inspiring performance. TO for all his ability, dropped a few passes. Luckily Romo had Witten, Crayton, and Barber to throw the ball to.

The Bills played a great game which included some really inspired football. But the play of Romo brings back an important point from last year. Romo is supremely streaky. Part of me is thinking that Romo owners need to closely evaluate what happened last year - and here's some evidence to that point.

Everyone remembers Rex Grossman's implosion from last year - but do you remember what Romo's numbers were through his first six games last year? Well, he totaled 12 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. Not too bad.

How about Romo's performance for the rest of the regular season (after his Thanksgiving game against Tampa Bay)? 6 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Not so good.

Better yet...over his last three games he had 6 fumbles.

I'm not saying to panic. Yet. But don't get over confident and drop your backup QB - I expect Romo to have a rough week against the Pats in week 6. I'm not sure if I expect him to totally implode...but I would have a good backup QB for week 7 and beyond - just in case.

I don't feel like Romo has learned from his mistakes last year - and he's not an elite fantasy QB yet.

A couple of things from this year that have really stood out -

The bungled snap that happened while he was in the shotgun against the Rams. Amazing play - I was watching the game and wondering..."What is he DOING?" And then a couple moves later, he's scampered 30+ yards to get the first down.

And of course, all those interceptions we witnessed against the Bills last night.

Just be prepared for a Romo implosion. Guaranteed? No. But definitely likely.

Know any superfans?

Oh my word - this is hilarious. You have to check out this guy's blog entry - where he found a great Chicago Bears superfan. The video was posted on YouTube - maybe he inspired the Bears comeback win against the Packers on Sunday night? (I'm paraphrasing below).

"Get yourself some strong coffee and make that QB baby swiss! Put holes in him!"

You can't make this stuff up. Fantastic.