Perhaps lost in the Vikings’ slow start this year is the fact that their Pro Bowl pass rusher, Jared Allen, is off to a blazing start. Allen leads the NFL with 8.5 sacks in five games. He’s one of four players on pace to reach 20 sacks for the season — even more impressive, his projected total of 27 sacks would obliterate the current season mark of 22.5 held by former Giant Michael Strahan.

The ‘Playbook’ crew of Sterling Sharpe, Brian Baldinger, Matt Millen and Joe Theismann make their Week 6 picks.

49ers receiver Josh Morgan is done for the season after being placed on injured reserve because of a broken ankle, leaving San Francisco with a shortage of quality receivers. Morgan, the team’s second-leading receiver, had been filling the void left by Braylon Edwards, who was injured in Week 2 against the Cowboys. There was a small chance that Edwards could be back in time for this week’s game at Detroit, but according to coach Jim Harbaugh, it seems more likely that the veteran won’t return until after the Niners bye in Week 7. Morgan’s injury could put a big dent in a suspect San Francisco passing game. Yes, Vernon Davis will continue to be a major target for Alex Smith, but the [...]

Everyone’s waiting for Antonio Gates to get healthy, but the star tight end is refusing to put a date on his return to action.

When the Bears host the Vikings on Sunday night, Jay Cutler won’t be the only quarterback twitching. If it seems as if Cutler is sacked more consistently than any other QB in the league, you’re right. The Bears passer has been taken down at least once in 27 straight games, the longest active streak in the league. But Donovan McNabb isn’t far behind, having been sacked in 20 straight games.

Log onto NFL.com to vote for the FedEx Air & Ground Players of the Week. And don’t forget to cast your vote for the week’s top rookie performance and top comeback, too.

Our friends at Sports Pickle made a joke about 49ers QB Alex Smith in real-time Sunday that couldn’t be overlooked: “I bet other No. 1 overall pick QB busts think Alex Smith has become a total sellout.”

Don’t let anybody know that I am talking about Danny Thomas on Tim Tebow Tuesday.

The Raiders further strengthened their legitimacy Sunday with a tremendous display of heart in a 25-20 road win over the Texans just 24 hours after the death of legendary owner Al Davis.

Jason Smith looks at who are the best “Fantasy Friendly” teams in the NFL? Teams that give you the most in stats, so you want to keep starting their players, trade for them, or pick up someone off the waiver wire from one of these squads.

Troy Polamalu doesn’t have anything against Southern California tourists. He just couldn’t resist the temptation to scare some during a recent trip to Madame Tussauds.

Even Dan Marino admits that it’s only a matter of time before someone breaks his 27-year-old single-season passing record of 5,084 yards. And as we take our weekly look at the numbers, it shows that five QBs are still on pace to set a new record.

Now that the Monday Nightmare is over for some of you (others, understandably are rejoicing), it is time for a quick look at the fantasy news of the day to get your started on an alternative rankings Tuesday.

One of the bummers about playing in five leagues (three mandated by my employment) is that seemingly every touchdown scored on your typical Sunday and Monday either crushes you, or helps you. I feel like I have every player on every team on at least one of my squads.

Since NBA commissioner David Stern just announced the first two weeks of the basketball season are no more, we had an interesting corollary for all you roundball-lovers.