It might be time for Shaun Williams to start worrying about his starting job security. The Giant safety is out for the year due to injury and his replacement has been rookie Gibril Wilson. Wilson was part of the secondary that helped shut down the Cowboys and QB Vinny Testaverde in the Giants win Sunday. Testaverde had been averaging close to 300 yards per game passing up to that point. He finished Sunday with only 126. Wilson had 5 solo tackles and a sack…

Cowboy DE Greg Ellis had an odd game. In one regard, he was very successful personally. Ellis had seven tackles, two sacks and broke up two passes. However, Ellis had some errors that proved costly for Dallas. A roughing the passer penalty on Ellis led to a Giant field goal for the first score of the game. In the third quarter, Ellis had another personal foul called against him when he tugged on Kurt Warner's face mask. The resulting first down helped set up the Giants' go-ahead touchdown that gave New York a 13-10 lead…

Ellis in having a career year thus far, with 5 sacks and 18 solo tackles after only 4 games…

Being on a less than stellar defensive team can certainly have a positive impact for IDP owners. Even though they gave up 510 yards in total offense to the Minnesota Vikings Sunday, the Houston Texan players put up some great fantasy numbers. ILB Jay Foreman led the way with 9-4 tackles. Closely behind were CB Aaron Glenn (9-0), safety Jason Simmons (9-3), ILB Jamie Sharper (8-5), and DE Robaire Smith (6-2 and 1 sack). An overtime period helps too…

Colts LB Cato June finally had a solid statistical game Sunday against the Raiders in their win. June had 9-2 tackles and an interception. His teammate on the other side, David Thornton, had 3-2 tackles. Many had predicted prior to the season that June would have big numbers this year playing on the weakside, much as Thornton had done last year and ex-Colt Mike Peterson the year prior. Thus far this year, Thornton had been easily outscoring June. Sunday's numbers evened things up a bit...

June needs to put up good numbers to keep the starting nod over rookie Gilbert Gardner. Gardner is coming off injury and there has been plenty of talk about Gardner taking over June's spot...

"Little Scrappy" is what the Colt players have nicknamed rookie cornerback Jason David. David is 5'8" and 172 pounds soaking wet. But his aggressive approach to the game has landed him the starting spot previously owned by Donald Strickland...

David had a couple of tackles and broke up a pass, but it was his interception in the closing minutes that got the crowd on their feet. David returned the ball for a touchdown...

Strickland, who had been the Colts most solid and consistent defensive back, was put on IR and his season is over with hamstring and shoulder injuries...
31 year-old safety Rodney Harrison, a key cog in the New England defense and one of many reasons the Patriots winning streak continues, is still a playmaker. He had 7-4 tackles, a forced fumble and a sack Sunday in the Pats win over Miami...

Dolphin LB Zach Thomas continues his tackles dominance. He had 7-1 Sunday and has eight more total tackles than his closest competitor...
Tampa Bay cornerback Ronde Barber had his second fumble return for a touchdown of the year Sunday in the Bucs 20-17 win over the Saints. That's one more than he had in his previous seven NFL seasons...

The other Tampa corner, Brian Kelly, intercepted an Aaron Brooks pass late in the third quarter that killed a Saints drive...
Bucs LB Jeff Gooch, filling in for the injured Shelton Quarles at MLB, had a nice game with 9-0 tackles. Included in those tackles were two big goalline stops...

One Saint defensive player not disappointing is DE Charles Grant. Grant had 4-1 tackles and a forced fumble Sunday. He also had two more sacks to tie Falcon Patrick Kerney for a league high seven...

Saint Middle linebacker Orlando Ruff was burned on tight end Ken Dilger's 45-yard touchdown catch-and-run, the longest scoring reception against the Saints this season...

Pittsburgh DE Aaron Smith has long been considered one of the best and most complete DE's in the AFC. Unfortunately for IDP fans, the Steeler 3-4 defensive is geared more for the LB's to make plays, especially in pass rushing. But with three sacks already in 2004, including one against the Browns, Smith could reach his career sack high of eight this year...

Steeler LB James Farrior led the team with 7 total tackles in their win over Cleveland...

Cleveland Brown's safety Chris Crocker is splitting time with Earl Little right now. He made the most of his time Sunday, making one of the only big defensive plays for the Browns when he picked off Steeler QB Ben Roethlisberger and returned it 20 yards for a score to tie the score at 7 in the first quarter...

The Detroit Lion defense gave Falcon QB Michael Vick all he could handle Sunday in the Lions 17-10 win. Lion rookie backup LB Alex Lewis intercepted a Vick pass late in the first half and returned it 33 yards to the Falcons two before they scored two plays later to put the Lions up by seven, a lead they would never lose. Lewis added five tackles and a sack...

Lions DE James Hall added a sack Sunday to tie a career season high with four and a half. The sack couldn't have come at a better time as the Falcons had the ball on the Lions 21-yard line on a third and seven. The play ended as Hall forced the ball loose and Cory Redding recovered it...
As the Falcons drove the ball in an attempt to tie the game late in the 4th quarter, they were again at the Lions 21 when DT Shaun Rogers sacked Vick for a 5-yard loss. Vick was sacked again on the very next play, with a fumble and a recovery by James Hall that ended the comeback for Atlanta. Rogers now has three sacks on the year...

Lion rookie LB Tedy Lehman led all players in tackles with 8-1...

Falcon DT Rod Coleman continues to be the best IDP DT as he added another sack to give him four for the season...

The play of the entire defensive line for the Lions was impressive. They were flying around all game. Kalimba Edwards finally showed some of that speed and burst from his rookie season two years ago. Edwards had 3-0 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble...

The Atlanta Falcons secondary has been hit hard with injuries. Safety Bryan Scott, who has been so impressive in his young career, staggered off the field late in the third quarter with a concussion. Scott took a blow to the head on a play near the end zone and appeared to lose consciousness. Cornerback Jason Webster missed Sunday's 17-10 loss to Detroit with a slightly torn knee ligament. Aaron Beasley started in place of Webster. Another safety, Cory Hall , who was able to play, was limited during the week by back spasms. First-round pick DeAngelo Hall , who was set to start at cornerback, fractured his hip in the preseason and will be out for several more weeks. Kevin Mathis continues to fill in for Hall. The lack of numbers is forcing the Falcons to use players who would normally work only on special teams…

Charger LB Donnie Edwards was all over the field Sunday in San Diego's 34-21 win over Jacksonville. Edwards had 12-3 tackles…

The Charger defense sacked QB Byron Leftwich three times, including two by nose guard Jamal Williams. Williams already has more sacks this season (3) than in any of his previous six seasons…

Williams most talked about play, though, was when he punched Jacksonville center Brad Meester at the end of a play in the second quarter. Williams drew an unnecessary roughness penalty that added 15 yards to Jacksonville's first scoring drive. HC Marty Schottenheimer defended Williams during his weekly news conference. Meester had apparently hit Williams from behind near his knees. Said Schottenheimer, "there's no place in this business for what happened there (to Williams). You've got to have respect for people that play in this game, on your team as well as the other team"…

Jacksonville has depth concerns at DE. There was talk about them re-signing Tony Brackens, the Jag's all-time sack leader, who was released in August due to health concerns because of his surgically repaired knees. HC Jack Del Rio has decided against the move, saying, "We basically made a decision to move on. Tony was a classy guy, and I don't think it would be the right thing to go back and forth with him"…

Jaguar MLB Mike Peterson keeps rolling along, ending the game with 7-6 tackles. He has 32-16 tackles on the year, good for third in the NFL overall…

NY Jets DE/LB John Abraham can flat out get to the QB. With three sacks Sunday, he now has five in two games and six on the year, which leads the AFC…

The Jets beat Buffalo 16-14. Rookie Jonathan Vilma, starting for the injured Sam Cowart, continues to show his instincts and speed. Vilma had 6-1 tackles and a sack. It was Vilma's first career sack…

Bills LB London Fletcher had a monster game. He had 15-6 tackles, tying a career high. Fletcher, who was undrafted coming out of Division III school John Carroll, has led the Bills in tackles every year he's been with the team, including a franchise record 209 tackles in 2002…

The San Francisco 49ers might have won the game Sunday against Arizona, coming from 14 points down late in the fourth quarter to tie the game and eventually win in overtime, but the victory was tainted by the loss of All-Pro LB Julian Peterson. Peterson is out for the season after tearing his Achilles tendon late in the first quarter. Brandon Moore replaced him. Expect Moore and Saleem Rasheed to combine forces in Peterson's place…

The Arizona Cardinals recorded five sacks from their defensive linemen. Two each from DE's Calvin Pace and Bertrand Berry, and one from DT Darnell Dockett. It was Dockett's first NFL sack in what I predict will be many more to come…

The biggest defensive play for the Rams came from DE Leonard Little. With the Rams down 27-24 to the Seahawks late in the fourth quarter, Seattle had the ball on their own 41 with a third and five play. A first down means the Hawks can run out the clock. Bobby Engram was open, but Little got to QB Matt Hasselbeck before he could throw it, sacking him for a 12-yard loss. After the ensuing punt, the Rams went down to kick the field goal to tie the game. The Rams won in overtime…

Little's DUI trial is tentatively scheduled for March 28, 2005…

Seattle cornerback Marcus Trufant is having an impressive second season. The former number one draft pick has done a nice job of covering the NFL's best WRs and has also been solid in run support. Against the Rams, Trufant did not give up a big play and had an interception, nine tackles and three passes defended. After the INT, the Rams pretty much stopped throwing it Trufant's way…

The play of the day for the Denver Broncos in their 20-17 win over Carolina was made by a couple of backups, DT Luther Elliss and LB Patrick Chukwurah. Down 20-17 late in the fourth quarter, the Carolina Panthers had moved into scoring position and were facing third-and-9 at the Denver 25. Before QB Jake Delhomme could throw the pass, Elliss had pushed through and backed him up and Chukwurah caught his arm, causing an incomplete pass…

Panther DE Julius Peppers was involved in perhaps the oddest play of the year. Peppers intercepted a Jake Plummer pass and returned it 101 yards…but did not score. It was the longest interception in NFL history to not result in a score…

After intercepting the ball 4 yards deep in his own end zone, Peppers took off running down the sideline. At about the Denver 20 he began to run out of steam. Just prior to reaching the end zone, Peppers stumbled as he looked back and saw Denver WR Rod Smith catching him. Smith presence caused Peppers to fumble the ball and he recovered it in the end zone. Carolina kept the ball, though, when Carolina challenged the play and it was ruled that Peppers was already down before he lost the ball…

Both Peppers and Smith were reportedly sucking oxygen minutes after the play…

Because of a should injury suffered in week two, Panther DT Kris Jenkins was placed on IR and will miss the remainder of the season…

Safety Ed Reed was the man for Baltimore Sunday. Down 10-0 to the Redskins in the third quarter, Reed once again made the big play, causing a fumble on a safety blitz, and returned the fumble 22-yards for the score to make it 10-7. He then stopped Clinton Portis on a key third and one. On the following play, Reed made a nice block to spring BJ Sams for a 78-yard punt return. The Ravens went from being down 10-0 to moving ahead 14-10 in about 2 ½ minutes, mostly because of Reed's play…

Raven LB Terrell Suggs had a pair of sacks to give him five for the year…

The Green Bay faithful have already begun to miss recently traded CB Mike MacKenzie. In their 48-27 loss to Tennessee, Packer corners Michael Hawthorne and Ahmad Carroll both played poorly. Hawthorne missed a tackle on Titan RB Chris Brown's first TD run, and Carroll seemed to be thrown to every time he stepped on the field, with poor results for Green Bay…

Titan safety Lamont Thompson was highly touted as a second round pick in 2002, but has had to wait patiently as Lance Schulters remained the starter opposite Tank Williams. With Schulters hurt, Thompson is making the most of his opportunity. On Monday night, Thompson had two interceptions to go with 5-1 tackles…

Until next week…

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