Shaun Hill, did you ever know you are my hero?

I’m involved in two fantasy football whuppings heading into tonight’s game, and DeAngelo Williams and Matt Bryant will play a big role in deciding how bad each spanking ends up being, though neither outcome should impact the playoff picture. I’m on the giving end of one whupping, leading by 41 with both Williams and Bryant playing for my team tonight, and that’s despite leaving 27 points on my bench in Pierre Thomas and Wes Welker. In my other league, I’m on the receiving end of the beatdown, trailing by 33 with Bryant on my team and Williams on my opponent’s squad (after I cut Williams early in the season).

I’ve already clinched a playoff spot in one league, and in the other (the one where I’m losing this week), I’m in the fourth and final playoff spot with a triple-digit lead in points over the fifth-place team, so I should be safely in the postseason, unless Julius Peppers — the only player the fifth-place team has left — runs back 20 interceptions for touchdowns tonight. Of course, it looks like I’m headed for a first-round meeting next week with the top team in the league — the same team that’s kicking me around this week (and I’m guessing she won’t be leaving Calvin Johnson and Marvin Harrison on the bench like she did this week).

• The quarterbacks in the Cowboys-Steelers game combined for less than seven fantasy points, while the two defenses combined for almost 35 in a pretty standard Yahoo! scoring system. In fact, the defenses outscored the teams’ QBs and starting running backs combined.
• For the first time in recent memory, the 49ers played well against a good team. Also for the first time in recent memory, I benefited from starting a 49ers player. In his five starts, Shaun Hill has tallied nine TD passes, four INTs, and 235 yards per game, and San Francisco has won three out of five while looking at least competitive in the other two games. And Mike Nolan and Mike Martz made this guy claim a bogus injury in preseason so they can give the starting job to J.T. O’Sullivan (who, I’m ashamed to admit, started for one of m fantasy teams for a couple weeks)?
• After a hot five-game winning streak capped by a win over the then-unbeaten Titans, the Jets definitely look like a team that has peaked too early, losing back to back games to the Broncos and 49ers and with the defense and offense taking turns looking inept. At least Thomas Jones is still scoring touchdowns.
• Hey, remember how I sang Pierre Thomas’ praises last week? Look at what the man did this week, even with Reggie Bush cutting into his workload: 16 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD, plus a 7-yard TD catch.
• Need some tight end help for the fantasy playoffs? See if the Seahawks’ John Carlson is still available. He had 8 catches, 69 yards, and a TD against the Patriots on Sunday, and that came on the heels of a 6-catch, 105-yard effort the week before. His output the last two weeks have surpassed his numbers from the previous five weeks combined.
• When the Colts put up 35 points, you figure Reggie Wayne would get in on a few of those. Wrong. He managed only five catches for 48 yards and no TDs on Sunday. He hasn’t found the end zone in four straight weeks and hasn’t surpassed 50 yards in each of the last three games.