Week 12 is here, and if you are still in the playoff hunt, it is indeed crunch time. If you are not, take the time and show the pride to play spoiler as the fantasy regular season winds down. First off, I must apologize for breaking one of my personal fantasy rules last week. Just minutes before submitting my article I made a rookie fantasy mistake and decided to change my mind at the last minute. After having written up Detroit defensive lineman Nick Fairley as a prime sleeper candidate and then hearing the news that Cliff Avril was cleared to play, I decided to roll with Avril over Fairley. The rest, as they say, is history. I went against my gut feeling (and plenty of research) and missed out on providing IDP owners what turned out to be one of the week's top defensive performances. Trust me, it will not happen again. Let's get to it! LINEBACKERS Koa Misi, SLB, Miami vs. Seattle: Misi is coming off a nice game against Buffalo in which he posted four total tackles with a sack while playing only 28 defensive snaps. He is purely a matchup type player for fantasy purposes, and this week's game against Seattle should allow him to shine, as he is solid against the run. His snap count will be higher as Seattle pounds the ball on the ground, and with 2½ sacks on the season, Misi does bring some big play potential. Erin Henderson, WLB, Minnesota at Chicago: Henderson has worked his way into the rotation in the Vikings' sub-packages again and should see more playing time moving forward. This is a great match up for him, as the Bears will be looking to establish the running game to help keep their quarterback upright. Henderson has put up 11 total tackles in his last two games, and while that is not all that impressive, he's averaged 46 snaps per game and with an increase in playing time likely, he is an excellent sleeper this week. Jonathan Vilma, WLB, New Orleans vs. San Francisco: New Orleans interim head coach Joe Vitt has stated that Vilma will see more playing time moving forward, and this is a great week for that to happen. The 49ers are a Top 3 matchup in allowing points to linebackers, and Vilma is in line for a big day. He posted his first sack of the season last week and will be very active in containing Frank Gore on the ground as well as having to worry about the running ability of newly crowned starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick. James Harrison, OLB, Pittsburgh at Cleveland : Harrison looked the Harrison of old, rather than an old ...

This week's lines are from USAToday.com (as of Thursday night). Key ATS - Against the Spread SU - Straight Up O/U - Over/Under Byes: Miami, Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Philadelphia, Atlanta Locks Green Bay @ St. Louis (+5.5) The Packers are coming off an impressive 42-24 victory at Houston last week. QB Aaron Rodgers finally busted out with a big game, passing for 338 yards and six touchdowns, three of them to WR Jordy Nelson. Even with WR Greg Jennings missing most of the season with a groin injury, Rodgers has plenty of weapons with wideouts Nelson, James Jones and Randall Cobb. The Rams lost in Miami last week 17-14. QB Sam Bradford was without his favorite WR Danny Amendola, who's out for at least six weeks due to an injured collarbone. The offense was already struggling before they lost Amendola, not to mention that RB Steven Jackson has slowed down this year and is now sharing carries with rookie RB Daryl Richardson. St. Louis has improved on defense this season. Against the pass, they rank 5th in the league but will have their hands against Rodgers and company. After a slow start to the season, the Packers have some of their swagger back and I expect them to keep it going this week in St. Louis. Gimme the Packers minus the points. New Orleans @ Tampa Bay (+1) The Saints were on a bye last week after finally getting their first victory of the season over the San Diego Chargers two weeks ago, winning 31-24. LB Jonathan Vilma (knee) is expected to return this week and will provide the Saints with much needed help on defense. New Orleans may be without one of their top offensive players in TE Jimmy Graham (ankle) who has not practiced all week. The Buccaneers blew out the Kansas City Chiefs last week, 38-10. I'm not really buying this win. The Chiefs have had QB issues all season and had to go with Brady Quinn after losing Matt Cassel to a concussion. Tampa's defense succeeded in stopping the run and forced Quinn into throwing two interceptions, including one which was returned for a touchdown. The Saints need this win to stay in the playoff hunt, look for them to make it two in a row. Gimme the Saints minus the points. Dallas @ Carolina (+1) It'll be interesting to see how Dallas rebounds from last week's heart-breaking loss in Baltimore. They will be without RB DeMarco Murray who left last week's game with a foot injury. Backup RB Felix Jones should have a nice day against the Panthers defense who rank 23rd in the league against ...

Initially built by NASA to set lines for the Las Vegas casinos in the late 50's (who do you think funded the Apollo missions? The government? It was the mob...), The Sin City Betbot 6000 calculated lines for over 30 years. The Betbot was given various upgrades through the years, not always with the best equipment, but he was very good at setting lines, and living the good life. The Betbot was de-commissioned in 1990 after San Francisco destroyed Denver in the Super Bowl. The 45 point spread simply fried a number of the Betbot's wires and he retired. The Betbot was discovered by Fantasysharks.com and retooled to give fantasy advice. He lives now to give his own unique, well cultured take on the NFL.The Sin City Betbot 6000 Presents is transcribed by Joe Petrizzi and Tom Walls because "typing.. .BZZT... is a dame's job". RIP -- Steve Sabol, who was a close personal friend of mine. Many people have written about NFL Films' influence on the game. It can't be overstated, and this is coming from a cynical half-drunk robot who's seen and done it all. NFL Films transformed how we view football, how we view sports and how narratives are presented for sports. It's going to be uncomfortable in the Saints locker room whenever Jonathan Vilma gets back in. Evidently some of the evidence the NFL captured is from current teammates of Vilma's (of course that's where the damning evidence came from -- the NFL wasn't going to suspend anyone without eyewitness testimony). I put the over/under for a Saints locker-room fight at two weeks. Also, how crappy is it that Gregg Williams provided key evidence against Vilma? Vilma walks into a culture of bounties propagated by Williams himself. Vilma buys into (literally) Williams' program and Williams snitches on Vilma for crimes Williams himself taught Vilma. I understand that this was likely after the NFL finally got Williams and Sean Payton to tell the truth about their program, but Williams' testimony smells worse than Norman Fells' apartment. NFC Notes -- Speaking of the Saints, they are in some deep doo-doo. The Falcons are the real deal this year (I'm not that impressed by their win over rag arm Peyton Manning and the Broncos -- but still...), I don't see a Wild Card for the NFC South. The Saints have to sweep the Falcons to make up the ground they've lost. It's been awhile since I've written about the Rams in anything other than a mocking tone, and yes; they were aided greatly by Josh Morgan's STUUUUUPPPPP....

As sure as every Arian Foster owner is looking to add Ben Tate later in their fantasy draft as his handcuff, so too must the savvy Individual Defensive Player (IDP) owner back up his studs with their potential replacements. With the rash of preseason injuries to-date in 2012, it is more important than ever to make sure that our IDP handcuffs are in place. Unfortunately, it is not quite as defined on the defensive side of the ball as to who the next man up may be, and often times a defense may look for a multi-headed solution to their injured stars. Here is a look at some names to definitely monitor as replacements for the No. 1 man at their respective positions. Some of the names will be familiar and some of them will be from deeper down the depth charts as we look for IDP handcuffs. DJ Smith, ILB, Green Bay: This one is as simple as it gets. Smith has now assumed the position formerly held down by Top 5 fantasy linebacker, Desmond Bishop, who has undergone surgery to repair a damaged hamstring. Smith stepped in for an injured Bishop in 2011, amassing 57 total stops and an interception in nine games played. While he may lack some of the big play potential that Bishop brings to the table, he is an immediate three-down player on the Packers defense and a must have for Bishop owners. Barrett Ruud, ILB, New Orleans: While "Bounty Gate" rocked the Saints defense in the offseason with the suspensions of Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith, it is a rash of injuries to the linebacker position that continues to plague them in the preseason. Newly acquired Curtis Lofton, David Hawthorne and Chris Chamberlain have all gone down with one ailment or another, forcing the Saints to trade for the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and Tennessee Titan. Ruud was languishing in Seattle as the backup to rookie Bobby Wagner and now has new life with the Saints. Hawthorne (meniscus) and Lofton (high-ankle sprain) will both make it onto the field in 2012, while Chamberlain (torn ACL) has already been placed on Injured Reserve. Ruud was a fantasy beast from 2007-10 for Tampa Bay, and while he won't be asked to carry the load for New Orleans as much as he did back in his time with the Buccaneers, he will have fantasy value from the middle of the Saints defense in 2012. Chris Carter, OLB, Pittsburgh: While Smith and Ruud are somewhat known commodities at their positions, Carter is a wild card for the Steelers. With James Harrison iffy for the start of the season, Carter has been taking ...

Yeah, so there's only about 15 weeks until my life has purpose. Until my Monday morning (heck, every weekday morning) aren't filled with sales reports, Powerpoint presentations, and other types of haberdashery. Only 15 weeks until I actually look forward to going to work for all the wrong reasons. And since I play for money, in 15 weeks, I'll technically have two jobs. I'll have two jobs and watch my productivity decrease by at least half. Imagine that ... Imagine that. I've done it too often. The problem is that I can't stop. Seriously. I have been looking forward to the 2012 fantasy football season since the end of December. Let me fill you in on what happened this offseason. We watched the sports world compare Tim Tebow to Jeremy Lin. Tebow is the most well-known college athlete of all time! What handful of Harvard Crimson faithful knew who Lin was? Ask me if I'm a Tebow fan and I'll give you the typical response: "He's a great guy, a good role model, and everything else the NFL should represent ... but I don't want him as my quarterback." I'd go on to tell you that I'd rather have a dog-fighting, ex-convict who tried to sneak cannabis through airport security for my quarterback than Tebow. And I love dogs. The bottom line is that Tebow owns the press. Some news outlet was offering some outrageous sum of money for being able to prove that Tebow wasn't a virgin. Poor guy. Lin is not on Tebow's level. Few are ... Peyton Manning is! I'll be honest here. I thought Manning would play last year. I thought I stole him in the 10th round of a draft!! Well, he didn't play. I thought things would go back to normal in Indianapolis after the season. Last year would be the year marked with the asterisk. You know: 2011 Indianapolis Colts: 2-14* * Yeah, we didn't have Peyton Manning * I didn't think there was any way the Colts would trade him. His career is in Indianapolis. Everyone loves him in Indianapolis. He has a hospital named after him in Indianapolis. And now he works in Denver. It just proves that nobody is irreplaceable. Manning is now under the tutelage of John Elway, one of the best quarterbacks of all time. In my opinion, Manning wins at least one more Super Bowl. I hope he does. As for the Colts, they're going to need some "Luck" getting rid of that asterisk. But at least they aren't the New Orleans Saints. Yikes. This is borderline Katrina type stuff. In case you've had your head under a rock, or under Jonathan Vilma's shoulder pads, they've ...

Suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has sued NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for defamation, according to a ProFootballTalk report.

Suspended New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has sued NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for defamation, according to a ProFootballTalk report.

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended for the 2012 season for his role in the team's bounty scandal, the most severe of the punishments handed out Wednesday by commissioner Roger Goodell.

The New Orleans Saints reportedly restructured the contract of middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

The 2012 edition of free agency in the National Football League is three weeks old, and while the biggest splash so far this year remains the Denver Broncos agreeing to terms with quarterback Peyton Manning there's been plenty of changes on the defensive side of the ball as well. Let's take a look back at some of the prominent free agent signings on defense so far this year and what they could mean for the fantasy prospects of these players, continuing with last week's look at defensive linemen by moving on to the linebackers. The biggest name among linebackers to be changing addresses is likely middle linebacker Curtis Lofton, who had 147 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and two interceptions roaming the middle for the Atlanta Falcons in 2011. With starter Jonathan Vilma staring at a possible suspension in the wake of the "player bounty" scandal that has engulfed the team the New Orleans Saints swooped in and signed the 4th year pro away from their division rivals, agreeing to terms with Lofton on a free agent contract. New Falcons defensive coordinator reportedly viewed Lofton as a two-down linebacker and liability in coverage, an assessment that Lofton apparently did not agree with and one that paved the way for Lofton's departure from the Falcons. If Lofton does indeed remain on the field for the Saints as he did for his first three seasons in Atlanta then this change of scenery will be a definite benefit to his IDP value and keep him at in low-end LB1 territory after an LB7 finish in Default IDP Manor Scoring in 2011. Two of the other big names among free agent linebackers made news not by changing teams but by staying put, as middle linebackers D'Qwell Jackson of the Cleveland Browns and Stephen Tulloch of the Detroit Lions agreed to contract extensions that kept them with their respective teams. The 28 year-old Jackson, who had a career-high 158 tackles last year after missing most of the past two seasons due to a pair of pectoral injuries, inked a five year, $42.5 million deal before free agency even began, and although injuries remain a concern there's no reason to think that fantasy's top linebacker from last season won't again post top 10 numbers assuming he stays healthy. Tulloch, who racked up 111 tackles, 3 sacks, and an interception in his first year in Motown, may not have received the megadeal he was searching for, but the seventh-year pro did manage a five year, $25.5 million dollar deal that will keep him in Detroit, where Tulloch ...