Viva Murillo!

This is a time when conservation is getting a lot of press. People want to stretch their budgets by making things last, and nobody wants to be wasteful. If you have something valuable, you take care of it and use it wisely.

Makes sense, right? Then why do so many NFL coaches waste what they have? As a fantasy owner I'm all for garbage-time points, but some of these decisions are baffling to me. Jay Cutler injures himself at the very beginning of Monday night's game and plays through the pain. That's great. But why is he slinging the ball with three minutes to go in a 41-7 rout? The team has a bye the very next week. What is he going to accomplish in the final drive that can't affect the outcome? Sure, playing until the end gave his fantasy teams a fourth-quarter TD and a mediocre stat line, but the risks were much greater than that. If you play a star in a blowout, bad things can happen.

Speaking of Steven Jackson (bad things and all), what was head coach Jim Haslett thinking? About half a quarter left, the Rams have the ball and a 34-7 lead against a Dallas team that looked as inept as St. Louis at the beginning of the year. So who's carrying the ball? The entire Rams offense on two legs, of course. And, of course, he leaves the game with a strained quad. Haslett weakly offered that he was just about to take him out of the game when the injury occurred, but he did not address why Jackson was even out on the field for that drive. I wonder if Jackson's owners needed that extra fantasy point by going form 156 to 160 yards. If they did, I bet it wasn't worth it to now wonder if he's going to play next week. Early reports sound promising, but it shouldn't even be a question.

It could be worse, of course. It could be a Reggie Bush situation. I know fantasy owners love watching him return punts (especially in leagues that reward return yardage), and everyone saw the highlights he created on Monday Night Football a couple weeks ago. But really, why would you jeopardize a star player like that? There's a reason all the backups play special teams. It's an important part of the game, but also very dangerous. If the blocking isn't right, it resembles those old electric football games where everyone runs around in crazy directions. That's when people get hurt. I know it was the kind of injury that could have happened on any play, even running or catching out of the backfield. But the Saints are just getting two weapons (Shockey and Colston) back from injury. They need to preserve the guys they have. Yes, he can create a spark (or points) by returning a punt, but I think the risk is too great. Reggie Bush shouldn't be playing special teams, and now he won't be playing at all for a few weeks.

As fantasy owners we want to see our guys out there scoring points, even when the game is out of hand. That's what makes the fourth quarter of a blowout so compelling. Back in week 3, Jerricho Cotchery caught half of his 10 receptions in a crazy fourth quarter against the Chargers. Waiver wire fodder Chansi Stuckey logged five of his six catches -- and his touchdown -- in the same period. That's how fantasy games are won. But at the very end of that game, it was Kellen Clemens -- not Brett Favre -- throwing the football. They wanted to protect a valuable resource.

Walk into any sports bar on a Sunday and you can spot the experienced fantasy players by what they yell at the screens (everybody is yelling nonsense, but the good owners yell smarter nonsense). They actually want their players taken out of a game that's already been decided. They want to score points, but there's a time when you just want your guys to leave the game healthy. Otherwise, you might find yourself wondering if Antonio Pittman or Travis Minor is a better waiver wire pickup.

Everyone likes their players racking up garbage-time stats, but be careful what you wish for.

Youtube Clip of the Week: Better enjoy these punt returns, because you won't see any more for a few weeks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8aRh2WUz18

You can reach Michael Murillo at vivamurillo@gmail.com.

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