As many of you are in the fantasy playoffs, you cannot allow yourself to make a gaffe in your lineups.

Let's face it, plenty of people are out drinking heavily on a Saturday night(my loser self is just drinking by myself tonight, single tear), and will sleep in on a Sunday morning. Then they wake up, the 1:00 PM(ET) games have started, and cripes... they forgot to take Marion Barber out of their lineup! Do not let yourself be one of these people.

To avoid such a situation, let's make some adjustments right now before you go paint the town:

*Take Marion Barber out of your lineup. The Cowboys running back did not join the team flight to Pittsburgh, meaning he's officially out already. If you're desperate for a fantasy running back, pretty much if you were going to play a backup, pick up Tashard Choice if he's still available in your league. Don't expect too much out of him, but he'll get touches at least.

*Start Brian Westbrook. The week 14 superstud is expected to start tomorrow, after being listed as "Questionable". Don't kill me if he doesn't play, I'm just going by what the reports are. Still, if you're one of the people that isn't waking up naked on top of a cougar in the  morning, wondering what state you're in, do yourself a favor and make sure he's a go tomorrow.

*Play Clinton Portis... If you don't have a top-20 back you could play instead. It's hard to bench a guy that's been as good as any running back in the league this year, but he's banged up with a neck injury, and going against an outstanding Ravens defense. He's listed as "Questionable", but expected to play. Like Westbrook though, check his status again tomorrow.

*Sit Kevin Smith... If you have a starter at running back for just about any team outside of the Cowboys(Tashard Choice) this week. Most of the week Lions running back  Kevin Smith looked like a good play against the backup defensive tackles of the Minnesota Vikings. However, a stupid ruling allows Kevin and Pat Williams to play this Sunday. They are the main reasons for the Vikings having a top-2 run defense each of the last 3 years, as they make it nearly impossible to have much success running up the middle against the Vikings.

*Start Ryan Grant against the Texans. Grant's status was in doubt at the beginning of the week after spraining his thumb, but he'll play and the Packers plan to give him the ball a lot. Brandon Jackson seemed like a solid sleeper pick earlier in the week after getting 11 carries for 80 yards in week 13 versus the Panthers, but it appears Grant is the Packer running back to go with in this one against the Texans' 23rd ranked run defense.


If you want some more of my fantasy analysis, some links for rankings, projections, and other terrific fantasy articles, you can check out my Week 14 Fantasy Football Roundup on my blog Sharapova's Thigh. Feel free to ask me any questions, call me a d-bag, whatever.