PHILADELPHIA — Your normal fantasy football writer, Ed Barkowitz, is in Florida, covering the Flyers. So, naturally, he asked the owner of the best team in his league to step in for him. So here goes:

Palmer, Johnson and Johnson.

Sounds like a law firm. And they've been playing football like one recently.

We're talking, of course, about Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, running back Rudi Johnson and wide receiver Chad Johnson. What has happened to these three fantasy studs?

Well, first of all, there are injuries. Not to those three, but to the offensive line. Left tackle Levi Jones will be out Sunday with a knee injury, replaced by a rookie. Add to that a second-year center filling in for injured starter Rich Braham (also knee), and you see why the running game has been slowed.

Also, wide receiver Chris Henry is serving the second game of his substance abuse/conduct suspension. That allows defenses to concentrate even more on Chad Johnson, who, by the way, has only one TD this season.

Realistically, it's hard for an owner to sit any of these three. But it ain't easy playing them, either.

Not living up to hypeIt's difficult to call a quarterback who has won a Super Bowl overrated, but ...With his 16-for-19, 238-yard, two-touchdown performance against Kansas City on Sunday, Ben Roethlisberger seems to have straightened out his erratic play.But don't be fooled, fantasy brethren. Despite winning the Big Game, Ben is not a good fantasy option. He threw only 17 TDs in each of his first two seasons as a starter, and the Steelers will remain a run-first team for the foreseeable future. If you need QB help, look elsewhere.

Attention commissionersA commissioner e-mailed with a problem that is all too common.A guy in her league last week played four players on bye, most of them Colts. That the offender still won his game — thanks largely to Marc Bulger — is irrelevant.Fantasy owners who neglect their lineups and play guys on bye weeks upset the integrity of a league. Imagine fighting for playoff position and the guy you are in direct competition with has a game against a team starting four players on bye. Meantime, you're playing against an owner playing a legitimate lineup.How would you (or do you) handle this problem?E-mail us at fantasyfootball@phillynews.com. Include your name, hometown and league name. We'll hand out Daily News fantasy football T-shirts to anyone whose responses we publish.

To-Do List• Play Kevin Jones, play Kevin Jones, play Kevin Jones. There was a lot of talk about the Cardinal O'Hara grad before this season, and most of it positive. The Detroit Lions running back was

the running back to take in the middle rounds.Well, he hasn't quite panned out as a fantasy player this year. But ...Last Sunday against Buffalo, Jones carried for 127 yards and a TD. This week, he goes up against a Jets' defense that, in six games, has seen the opposition's featured back average 103 yards. Also, the Jets' "D" has allowed 12 rushing TDs.• As frustrated as you might be, do

not sit Larry Johnson. Sure, the Chiefs go up against a great defense in the Chargers Sunday, and it is true that Johnson has rushed for only 62 yards in his previous two games combined, but think about it. What would hurt worse, playing him and he has another mediocre day, or not playing him and he snaps back to form?