NFL

Even after 10 weeks of mind-boggling fantasy football action, there doesn't seem to be any escape from the frenzy. A hip flexor sidelines Cedric Benson. Steve Slaton gets his starting job back. Heck, even Chris Simms is launching passes downfield again.

We'll help you sort through the shakeups and answer your questions, starting at 10:30AM ET all the way until kickoff. Reminder: only ask your question once, as repeats do slow down how quickly we can empty the queue. We will get to every question. Welcome aboard the S.S. Tailgate!

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Pittsburgh has several easy games on the schedule over the final seven weeks of the season, but it's hard to think of a better week for strong safety Troy Polamalu to miss than this week's game against the Chiefs.

Polamalu will miss the game with a knee injury, although the Steelers are saying he should be back before too long. But even without Polamalu, the Steelers' secondary should be able to handle the Chiefs.

Kansas City is without wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who was suspended four games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug rules. Without Bowe, Kansas City lacks a viable No. 1 or No. 2 receiver. Chris Chambers, who becomes the team's No. 1 receiver, has only been a Chief for three weeks--he was picked up off the waiver wire when San Diego waived him. No. 2 receiver Lance Long was promoted to the active roster until three weeks ago as well. Tight end Sean Ryan is a true journeyman--he's playing for his fourth team in the past two years.

Early this season, running back Jerome Harrison was an integral part of the Cleveland Browns' offense. In Week 3, he had 21 touches (16 carries and five catches) and in Week 4 he had a whopping 34 touches, with 29 carries and five catches.

But Harrison's role in the offense has steadily declined, to the point where in Monday night's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Harrison never got the ball.

That has Harrison so unhappy that he told reporters he'd rather not talk to them -- because he's sure nothing good would come of him saying what he thinks.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce is out indefinitely after an MRI exam on Friday surprisingly revealed a bulging disk in his neck.

The Giants said their defensive captain underwent the test in New York and was examined by team physician Dr. Russell Warren and Dr. Frank Camissa, chief of the spinal surgical services at the Hospital for Special Surgery.

The 31-year-old Pierce originally sustained a burner when the Giants played Arizona on Oct. 25. He had very little discomfort until practice this week, when the club's medical staff scheduled the MRI exam.

When Chris Spielman suffered a brutal neck injury, he said overcoming it was a breeze compared to most everything his wife Stefanie had faced. When her hair started falling out, when clumps of it began landing on the floor and in their toddler's hands, Chris decided to shave his own head, a soldier in solidarity. When it became apparent that more chemotherapy and a mastectomy -- breast cancer's evil twins -- were high on Stefanie's schedule, Chris bid a temporary farewell to the NFL, skipping an entire year so he could be with the woman he proposed to on the 18th hole of a Putt-Putt course.

None of the above should be considered exceptional behavior by husbands or partners forced to watch their loved one undergo treatment for cancer. But everything Chris did back in those gloomy days following his wife's diagnosis was regarded as unusual and, in some parts, emasculating.

Stefanie Spielman, 42, died Thursday after a lengthy battle with breast cancer. Chris Spielman, the NFL and Ohio State star, was by her side, along with their four children, and while she deserves a thousand hosannas and a billion thanks for her work in raising millions over the years to combat the disease, it should be noted that he was quite the trailblazer.

Whether the UFL succeeds in the long run became irrelevant Thursday for the Florida Tuskers, who will forever own the accomplishment of an undefeated regular season after a 34-27 victory over the California Redwoods at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

The main focus for the league has been its search for fan interest, a place in the crowded sports landscape, and thus the ability to stay solvent the way other similar alternative professional football leagues did not.

As a result, the particulars of the UFL's play on the field -- and the Tuskers' success -- have been a sidebar, though not to Florida coach Jim Haslett.

The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.

Jerry Rice needs no introduction, but I'll give him one anyway: the guy was a decent NFL wide receiver over his 21-year career, winning multiple Super Bowls and setting a few records en route to becoming the G.O.A.T.

So, when the kind folks at Gillette offered FanHouse the chance to speak with Rice, we jumped at the opportunity. We got his thoughts on the state of the 49ers and Raiders, and specifically their new rookie wideouts, Michael Crabtree and Darius Heyward-Bey.

Talking after the jump.

We still have two unbeatens in the NFL, New Orleans and Indianapolis. The Saints visit Tampa, so they shouldn't be threatened, but the Colts have a doozy of a game at Baltimore. Meanwhile, it's a clash of titans in Detroit, as the 1-8 Lions host 1-8 Cleveland. Join us at 12 PM ET to discuss all the Week 11 NFL action.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Ricky Williams is 32 and far from done. And even without Ronnie Brown, the once written-off Miami Dolphins are back in the playoff picture.

Williams rushed for 119 yards and scored three touchdowns, and the Dolphins beat the Carolina Panthers 24-17 on Thursday night for their fourth win in six games.

A day after learning Brown is lost for the season, the Dolphins (5-5) continued their surge after an 0-3 start behind Williams. The 2002 NFL rushing champion had a receiving and rushing touchdown in the same game for the first time in his career that includes a couple of lost seasons.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - Stefanie Spielman, the wife of NFL and Ohio State star Chris Spielman who led a public fight against breast cancer, died Thursday after a lengthy battle with the disease. She was 42.

Stefanie Spielman died at the family's home in Upper Arlington, surrounded by her family, said WBNS radio in Columbus, where Chris Spielman co-hosts a show.