Several divisional games highlight week 8 as fantasy owners enter the second half of the fantasy season. Trades have been made, waiver wire claims processed and busts have been written off. Alas, a few bye weeks remain to pester fantasy owners. Who should you plug in this week? Read More
I am staying away from that little game up in Lambeau this week because emotions will be off the charts. It’s going to be a nice game to watch, but as far as fantasy prognostication goes you can throw trends out the window. This game will have a playoff atmosphere and anything can happen.
Start Sit or Squat and Pray!
QB
Start: Mark Sanchez, New York Jets – Marc Bulger and David Garrard are easy calls this week but if you missed out on those guys and need a one week stop-gap, Sanchez is in an ideal position to post solid numbers. New York’s defense should give the offense plenty of opportunities and good field position. Additionally, Jerricho Cotchery should lineup opposite Braylon Edwards for the first time and they will play against rookie corners.
Sit: Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers – The Smith bandwagon has enough supporters to warrant mentioning him here. The Niners OL is not playing well and is not likely to stop the ferocious pass rush of the Colts.
S and P: Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears – How can you sit a quarterback playing the Browns? The Bears may decide to actually run the ball 30 times but you can’t bank on that happening this season. Cutler will be slinging the ball around one way or another and a quality match up puts him in the start column this week.
RB
Start: Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens – The Broncos are the toughest to run against, but Rice is turning the page in his young career. I’m not expecting huge numbers, but don’t you dare bench him unless you have clear-cut better options on your fantasy squad.
Sit: Ahmad Bradshaw, New York Giants – The toe injury won’t keep him sidelined but it give HC Tom Coughlin ample reason to run Jacobs more. Bradshaw could still get involved as a receiver this week with New York running screens against the blitz but counting on Bradshaw is still a risky play.
S and P: Joseph Addai, Indianapolis Colts – Addai becomes a quality play this week with Donald Brown dealing with an injury. Another 20 touches could be in store against the 49ers.
WR
Start: Brandon Marshall, Denver Broncos – I’m warming up to the Marshall plan-especially this week. The Ravens have struggled mightily against the pass and Marshall may be the best run after the catch receiver in the game right now.
Sit: Roy Williams, Dallas Cowboys – Miles Austin has taken over the role as Dallas’ top receiver. Should defenses start keying in on stopping Austin I expect Jason Witten to be the beneficiary, not Williams.
S and P: Donnie Avery, St. Louis Rams – The conditions are right for a quality outing but with the Rams anemic offense nothing is certain. Double down on Avery and hope that Bulger can deliver a face card.
TE, DEF, K
Start: Neil Rackers, Arizona Cardinals – The Cardinals offense should be able to move the ball well against the Panthers. Despite their quality of receivers and pass happy offense, they have only netter 9 passing touchdowns on the season. I’m liking the Arizona kicker to cash in on a few stalled drives against the Panthers.
Sit: Miami Defense – As I noted earlier, I think Mark Sanchez will have some success this week. The Dolphins should try to establish the run and eat the clock in this road game limiting the opportunity for the defense to record sacks and turnovers.
S and P: Brent Celek, Philadelphia Eagles – He has certainly cooled after his hot start but the Eagles will need to swap out some of the run game with the short pass to offset a likely decrease in carries from Brian Westbrook. I also don’t think Andy Reid will be as willing to let Brian Westbrook take goal line carries coming off the concussion making Celek the Eagles top option inside the ten-yard line.
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Week 7 Recap:
QB
Start: Matt Ryan – 198 pass yds, 2 TD, 2 Int
Sit: Chad Henne – 200 pass yds, 0 TD, 2 Int
S and P: Ben Roethlisberger – 175 pass yds, 1 TD, 0 Int
Ryan and the Falcons didn’t have an easy go of it in Dallas only posting respectable totals. New Orleans held Henne in check all day by allowing the former Wolverine to complete only 50 percent of his passes. Roethlisberger went up against a quality pass defense so his numbers shouldn’t come as a shock.
RB
Start: Tashard Choice – 0 rush, 1 rec 23 rec yds, 0 TD
Sit: Jamal Lewis – 47 rush yds, 0 TD
S and P: Thomas Jones – 121 rush yds, 1 TD, 1 rec, 3 rec yds, 0 TD
Choice’s fantasy value took a hit when it was announced Felix Jones would be active. Nobody should have started him at that point so I’ll take a mulligan and move on. Lewis is an aging back on a bad team that plays from behind the majority of the game. Leon Washington’s injury allowed Jones to record a season-high 26 carries in route to a stellar fantasy day.
WR
Start: Donald Driver and Greg Jennings – (Driver) 2 rec, 84 rec yds, 1 TD, (Jennings) 5 rec, 52 rec yds, 0 TD
Sit: Michael Crabtree – 5 rec, 56 rec yds, 0 TD
S and P: Steve Smith (Car) – 6 rec, 99 yds, 0 TD
Driver got the touchdown and Jennings got the targets, but in the end Green Bay ran the ball. Crabtree performed fairly well in his first pro action but didn’t merit a start on your fantasy team. Smith saw double digit targets for the first time since week 2 in route to an unspectacular but useful fantasy day.
TE, DEF, K
Start: Matt Stover – 0 FG, 6 XP
Sit: Zach Miller – 2 rec, 15 rec yds, 0 TD
S and P: Cincinnati Defense – 10 Points Allowed, 1 Sack, 3 Int, 1 FumRec
Stover was not needed for any three pointers but a cool 6 points helped anyone who plugged him. Miller saw his targets drop from 11 to 3 against the blitzing Jets. Cincinnati destroyed the turnover friendly Chicago offense.
NFL GAMES WEEK 8 (All times EST)
Bye: Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins
Denver Broncos at Baltimore Ravens - 1 p.m.
Houston Texans at Buffalo Bills - 1 p.m.
Cleveland Browns at Chicago Bears - 1 p.m.
Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys - 1 p.m.
St. Louis Rams at Detroit Lions - 1 p.m.
Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers - 1 p.m.
San Francisco 49ers at Indianapolis Colts - 1 p.m.
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets - 1 p.m.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Tennessee Titans - 4:05 p.m.
Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers - 4:05 p.m.
Carolina Panthers at Arizona Cardinals - 4:15 p.m.
New York Giants at Philadelphia Eagles - 4:15 p.m.
Monday: Atlanta Falcons at New Orleans Saints - 8:30 p.m
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