Rosenberg's Fantasy Sports: 'Uh, oh' week has arrived; let's hold our breath

There's always one "Uh, Oh" week fantasy football owners circle on the calendar.

Knowing that three-quarters of roster incarnation No. 1 was scheduled off in Week 10, we figured that would be the weekend the JV team had to keep things close until we were back at full strength.

Unfortunately we can't grasp the concepts of "full" or "strength" because injuries have torn through the lineup like kids tearing through candy wrappers on Halloween, turning every week into a mad scramble since late September.

First, we lost Willie Parker in Week 4. Then Tony Romo in Week 6. Chris Chambers in Week 7. And Jason Witten one play into Week 8.

Our Pro Bowl quarterback, Pro Bowl running back, top receiver and All-Pro tight end have missed or been rendered useless because of injury a combined 11 games. Mix in eight weeks of nothing from wideout Torry Holt and ... we should be six-feet under with our nose planted in a Fantasy Baseball magazine about now.

Yet somehow we're in fifth place just 1,000 points off the pace with eight weeks remaining, which is plenty of time to make a serious move upward.

In baseball, we were third and within a heartbeat of the lead before losing our best player, Ian Kinsler, with two months to go. We almost survived without Kinsler before fading on the final weekend — falling from third on Friday to sixth on Sunday to on our knees and pounding the floor on Monday.

We might be our league's sleeping giant this time around, however.

In our league, 800 points is a decent week, 900 good and anything more than 1,000 is considered, in the words of Bee sports editor Bill Poindexter, "outstanding." We barely had a pulse after a disastrous 494-point showing in Week 8 dropped us to seventh, but found new life with a 918-point effort last week, highlighted by Parker's return after a four-game absence because of a sprained knee ligament.

Now, the pieces are falling into place and time is no longer the enemy. Parker is back. Chambers is back. And Romo and Witten should be back in Week 11. Also, we could soon be adding wideout Roy Williams (who now has a handle on Dallas' playbook and could have a monster second half if he and Romo click and Terrell Owens sticks to the same tired script).

Also in our favor is the fact that this team is filled with players on teams dead in the water (Rams) or who could be fighting for playoff berths until the last snap (Cowboys and Bucs). Translation: No worrying about guys sitting in the final weeks to "rest" for the postseason, which can often sabotage 14 weeks of dominance and strategy.

Now, again, if we can just get through Week 10 in decent shape, we have the horses to make up serious ground. In order to survive, however, we'll need help from 49ers quarterback Shaun Hill, our emergency starter with Romo and No. 2 QB Jeff Garcia out and off.

Our fingers are crossed that Hill can pull a 200-yard, two-TD trick out of his hat Monday night at Arizona and get the second half started right.

C'mon, Martz Magic.

• OUR WEEK 10 LINEUP — QB: Shaun Hill (at Cardinals); RB: Willie Parker (vs. Colts) and LenDale White (at Bears); WR: Chris Chambers (vs. Chiefs) and Matt Jones (at Lions) or Torry Holt (at Jets); TE: Zach Miller (vs. Panthers); K: Jason Elam (vs. Saints); D/ST: Steelers (vs. Colts).

Stu Rosenberg's fantasy sports column runs Fridays. He can be reached at srosenberg@modbee.com or 578-2300.