The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders each square off in important battles as they both find themselves in dogfights in their respective division. The 49ers sit at 4-7 but are only a game out of first place and will face the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field this weekend. The Raiders are 5-6 and two games out of first place and will face the San Diego Chargers down in sunny San Diego.
The big news with the 49ers is that running back Frank Gore is lost for the season with a hip injury, which completely changes the dynamic of the team. Even if they stick with their run first philosophy, the team will be rolling with Brian Westbrook and Anthony Dixon in a bit more of a platoon. James Brady will have some comments on this change in his sit/start post.
The Raiders have all sorts of questions as they may have lost Bruce Gradkowski for the season with a separated shoulder, which means the return of Jason Campbell to the starting QB position. Amidst the injury concerns around the team, WR/KR Jacoby Ford was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November and is turning into a more consistent threat for Oakland. Rich Langford will have more on him this week.
This is a pivotal week for probably a majority of fantasy football leagues. For the most part this is the final week of the regular season. Most leagues generally go with six playoff teams, although some also do eight. This vast majority of leagues will be locking in their final playoff spots this week and kicking off the playoffs next week. There are some leagues that go with either four teams, or do the playoffs through week 17, but I have to believe those are a minority of fantasy football leagues.