GREEN BAY vs JETS

Week 8 sees an ailing Green Bay team coming off of a very emotionally and physically draining victory over the the Vikings, facing off  against a rested Jets team that is sitting on top of the league at 5-1and looking to continue the play they ended with before the bye week. It is also a contest between two of the more promising and talented young quarterbacks in the NFL, as we will see Mark Sanchez and Aaaron Rodgers (2 qbs that replaced Brett Favre) face off for the first time in their young careers.

As banged up as the Packers are, Aaron Rodgers still has Donald Driver and Greg Jennings to throw to. Jennings finds himself at the top of the FFCPI for wide receivers this week, as he will probably be matched up against a Derrell Revis, that is in no way the Revis of 2009. On top of that, it may be too soon to say if he is back to 100% health. As of this posting, Donald Drivers health remains in question, however keep an eye out. If Driver does not play, it could mean some double coverage on Jennings.

We will soon find out exactly what affect if any the bye week had on the Jets. Most notably the running gamewhich saw the resurrection of the career of one Ladanian Tomlinson. The Packers just gave up a 100+ yard performance to Adrian Peterson at home, Will the rest be a good thing for Tomlinson, or will the time off throw him off balance. The bye week may have also been an opportunity for quarterback Mark Sanchez to further familiarize himself with wide receiver Santonio Holmes. Holmes will definitely be a name to look out for in the 2^nd half of the season, as defenses may continue to focus on Dustin Keller (4th overall tight end on this weeks FFCPI) and Braylon Edwards.

GOOD START: Aaron Rodgers, Greg Jennings, Dustin Keller, Ladanian Tomlinson, Braylon Edwards

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: Mark Sanchez, Shonn Greene , Santonio Holmes, Donald Driver

BAD START: Brandon Jackson, Andrew Quarless,

 

ST LOUIS VS CAROLINA

The St Louis Rams are looking to bounce back from their latest loss by securing their fourth consecutive home win this Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. It may be perfect timing as well, as the Panthers are flying high coming off of their first win of the year. Despite having surgery on his broken ring finger this week, it appears as if Stephen Jackson will be at 100% and ready to go for the Rams on Monday. Jackson who ranks 8th on this weeks FFCPI for running backs, now has 3 games in a row where he has rushed for over 100 yards. Meanwhile Quarterback Sam Bradford is coming off of a 2 Touchdown performance against the Bucs. He loves playing at home, and so does the rest of this Rams team.

Matt Moore will be back as the starting quarterback after throwing for a career-high 308 yards and two TDs to lead the Panthers to 10 points in the final 1 minute, 53 seconds against the 49ers. Carolina is 3-0 when Moore throws for 200 yards or more. The Panthers could be without star running back DeAngelo Williams, who had a foot injury late in last week's win. After rushing for more than 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons, Williams has 361 yards and one TD in 2010. If Williams can't go,Jonathan Stewart will likely see the bulk of the work. Stewart ran for a career-high 1,133 yards last season, but has been limited to 148 on 50 carries this year. The Carolina running game, much like the passing game, has been slow this year.

GOOD START: Stephen Jackson,

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: Sam Bradford, Steve Smith, Deangelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart,

BAD START: Matt Moore, Danny Amendola

 

BUFFALO VS KANSAS CITY

Kansas City is hoping to start their season with four straight home wins for the first time since 2003 when it faces a Bills team which is doing everything it can to avoid its worst start in 26 years Sunday. Say what you will though about their record, this has been a different Buffalo team since switching Quarterbacks, as Ryan Fitzpatrick is now going on his 4th week with multiple touchdowns thrown in a game. In 3 of those 4 games, he has thrown for 220 yards or more. Keep in mind this is an offense that took the Baltimore Ravens into overtime last week. In other words do not be fooled by their record. They have some fantasy value to consider.

As close as they came to defeating the Ravens, their defense still gave up over 30 points for the now 5th week in a row. This means that the Chiefs offense should have a field day on Sunday at home. From Cassel to Jones to Charles, to Bowe, all of the Kansas City offensive studs should be just that this weekend.  Looking to rush for 200-plus yards in three straight, the Chiefs will line up opposite a Bills run defense ranked last in the NFL at 174.5 yards allowed per game. Playing at home with 2 divisional games coming up, certainly means that Kansas City will be doing all they can to go into back to back

divisional road games, with a 5-2 record.

The Bills on the other hand are waiting on their first win of the season. Again do not let the record fool you when it comes to Fantasy. 4 of their 6 losses have been from 10 points or less, so they have somewhat been competitive, and changing over to Ryan Fitzpatrick has definitely given the offense a surge. Lee Evans caught a career high-tying three TDs last week and Steve Johnson has five TDs in the last four games. That is not a coincidence, and the Bills should continue to be a threat in the air until Fitzpatrick proves otherwise.

GOOD START: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jamal Charles, Thomas Jones, Matt Cassel, Dwayne Bowe, Steve Johnson

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: Lee Evans, Fred Jackson,

BAD START: CJ Spiller, Dexter McCluster

 

WASHINGTON vs DETROIT

This week Matthew Stafford will return as Quarterback to a team that has silently become on of the best offensive attacks in all of the NFL.  What a comeback it will be too, as the leagues worst defense comes to Detroit.  Don't tell that to the Chicago Bears though, who last week saw Deangelo Hall catch 4 passes from Jay Cutler, to lead the Redskins to victory.

Look for Washington to be pass happy though, as they will try and get out to an early lead against the Redskins. Calvin Johnson should be Stafford's best buddy for years to come. Johnson who has 15 catches for 286 yards and three touchdowns over the last three games, is ranked as the 5th best Wide Receiver in this weeks FFCPI.  Jahvid Best owners

should also be excited this week as he is ranked 4th overall for Running Backs in our FFCPI.

As promising a start as Donovan Mcnabb gave the Redskins with his arm in the opening weeks of the season, he has taken a bit of a hit since. Mcnabb has been sacked 10 times in the past three weeks and has thrown two interceptions in back-to-back games. He's among the NFC's lowest-rated passers (76.0), yet somehow Washington remains in the race for the top team in the NFC east.  Ryan Torain however continues to please as he has been a great replacement for Clinton Portis. Torain has back to back 100 yard games, and looks to continue that streak this week in Detroit as Portis is still not ready to return.

GOOD START: Jahvid Best, Calvin Johnson, Ryan Torain, Matthew Stafford, Santana Moss

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: Donovan Mcnabb, Brandon Pettigrew, Anthony Armstrong

BAD START: Chris Cooley

 

MIAMI VS CINCINNATI

The Dolphins have yet to lose a road game, where as the Bengals continue to ask themselves when this season will finally turn after starting at 2-4 in a year where Chad Ochocinco was quoted as saying anything less then a championship is a "shame".

Brandon Marshall owners should be licking their lips, as he will be going against the same Bengals secondary that just allowed Rody White to go off in Week 7 for 2 touchdowns and over 200 reception yards. For this reason, Marshall finds himself as the 3rd highest ranked Wide Receiver in our FFCPI for week 8. Dont sleep on Davone Bess either as a flex option. He has a touchdown catch in 3 straight games, and is a definite go to option for Henne in the slot.

Terrell Owens was getting most of the attention from the Batman and Robin duo heading into last weekend. Could that have had anything to do with the OchoCinco 10 rec 108 yards and 1 td performance? Possibly. Owens still ranks 4th in the league in receiving yards, and has turned into Palmers #1 target. We have the 2 ranked back to back in

this weeks FFCPI down in the 29,20 slot to be fair, because the Dolphins do have a defense which can play well against the pass itself.

GOOD START: Brandon Marshall,

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: Carson Palmer. Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens, Ricky Williams, Ronnie Brown, Davone Bess

BAD START:  Chad Henne, Cedric Benson

 

JACKSONVILLE VS DALLAS

The Cowboys season for what its worth came to an end on Monday Night in Dallas, at the hands of the New York Football Giants pass rush. With that came the end of Tony Romos fantasy impact on any of your teams for the remainder of the Fantasy regular season. What exactly does this mean for the Cowboys fantasy roster? Well lets just say look for the running game to take a much bigger role in the Dallas offensive attack.

John Kitna did not exactly look the part on Monday night. Granted the short notice and the fact that nobody saw it coming, other than some slants to Dez Bryant that he turned into touchdowns on his own, it was tough for Kitna to get the offense going. Miles Austin for some reasonhas been dropping balls, and that has to be of concern. Regardless, the Cowboys will see a rather anemic defense in Jacksonville, that is coming off of a week in which they gave up 42 points and 426 total yards of offense to the Chiefs. Dallas ranks 30th in the run, averaging 86.0 yards per game, and had a season-low 13 carries against the Giants for 41 yards. That has to change now without Romo. Look for Jones and Barber to get a good split of carries on Sunday, in order to try and set up a passing attack that for whatever reason just isn't guaranteed as of yet.

Last week David Garrard was nursing a concussion. Yet this week it is the Jaguars and not the Cowboys who have the healthier Quarterback. Who would have thunk it. Though he has been cleared to play, this should be a week where the Jaguars will look to keep the Dallas offense off the field, control the clock, and pound the run. By doing so, it seems that MJD should be the main weapon on offense. Maurice Jones Drew finds himself as the 3rd ranked Running Back in this weeks FFCPI.  If they fall behind and have to pass, fret not. This is a Dallas defense which was picked apart for 306 yards and 4 touchdowns by Eli Manning.

GOOD START: Maurice Jones Drew, Miles Austin, Jason Witten, Felix Jones, Marion Barber

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: John Kitna, David Garrard, Dez Bryant, Mike Sims Walker

BAD START:  Roy Williams, Mike Thomas

 

DENVER VS SAN FRANCISCO

Is it just me, or does Europe always get the shaft when NFL teams come over to play. The 2-5 Broncos vs the 1-6 49ers isnt exactly the sexy kind of game that is going to make European Football fans come out and root for American Football, but so be it. We are also at the point in the season where a poor regular season team, may also equate to a poor option for Fantasy Football.

The duo to continuously watch for fantasy purposes in Denver, are Kyle Orton and Brandon Lloyd. Lloyd leads the NFL with 14 20+ yard catches, and with the hamstring problems surrounding Eddie Royal, he continues to become Ortons favorite target.  Orton once again finds himself in the top 10 quarterbacks in the FFCPI (8th in week 8) because he has been known for airing out the ball. Already this year he has thrown for over 300 yards 4 times, and against a 49ers defense that has just not lived up to expectation, you should not expect to see any different.

Alex Smith finally had a match up that he could do good from last week against Carolina, and he ended up getting knocked out of the game with a separated shoulder. Its been that kind of year for San Fran and Smith. David Carr came in and threw the interception that set up Carolinas game winning field goal. We now know why the 49ers have chosen to go with Troy Smith this weekend in England. Look for Gore who has rushed for 251 yards the last two games and has averaged 95.0 in the last four contests, to have an increased role in taking some of the pressure off of smith. That's why we have him as the #1 back on this weeks FFCPI.

GOOD START: Kyle Orton, Frank Gore, Vernon Davis

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD: Brandon Lloyd, Knowshon Moreno, Jabar Gaffney

 

TITANS VS CHARGERS

There's still a chance that Kerry Collins gets the start in this one, so the Chargers have the healthy quarterback while the Titans have the healthy wide receivers. 

The Titans sure looked like a complete offense last week with Chris Johnson in the backfield, and Kenny Britt erupting in the receiving corps.  However, against the Chargers they will need a big game from Johnson, as the Chargers allow the fewest passing yards in the NFL.

The Chargers are not a very good team right now and while Philip Rivers may be scolding his second-string receivers, it's really rookie running back Ryan Mathews who has been the biggest disappointment.  Be wary of Rivers this weekend, the Titans lead the NFL in interceptions.

Good Start: Philip Rivers, Chris Johnson, Kenny Britt, Antonio Gates

Middle Of The Road: Ryan Mathews, Patrick Crayton

Bad Start:  Philip Rivers, Kerry Collins, Mike Tolbert, Bo Scaife

 

VIKINGS VS PATRIOTS

We know one future Hall of Fame quarterback will start in this one, but there's a good chance that a certain someone may have his record-breaking playing streak come to an end.

The Vikings may go with Tarvaris Jackson this weekend, but I still think Brett Favre will get the start.  No matter who starts, you can expect value out of Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson, and Percy Harvin.  Visanthe Shiancoe remains a risky proposition. 

The Patriots are somewhat of a fantasy disappointment this season, but I expect big performances against their former teammate Randy Moss.  Perhaps Wes Welker finally breaks out and Tom Brady shows his worthwhile connecting with Deion Branch and Aaron Hernandez.  On the ground, Danny Woodhead carries some value in PPR leagues, while BenJarvus Green-Ellis has the best shot at finding the end zone.

Good Start: Adrian Peterson, Randy Moss, Percy Harvin, Wes Welker

Middle Of The Road: Tom Brady, Danny Woodhead, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Deion Branch, Visanthe Shiancoe, Aaron Hernandez

Bad Start:  Brett Favre, Rob Gronkowski

 

BUCCANEERS VS CARDINALS

Both of these teams have somehow combined for seven wins this season and remain in contention for the playoffs, but in fantasy terms, they are both busts.

Mike Williams is a legit star in the Buccaneers receiving corps, but right now there is more intrigue in what's to come of the rookie in the backfield.  LeGarrette Blount has clearly been the best talent at running back for the Bucs, but he continues to split touches with Cadillac Williams. 

The Cardinals will likely start rookie Max Hall at quarterback, though fantasy managers should avoid him at all costs.  Not only did he complete just 25% of his passes last week, but the Bucs defense has limited the opposition to just 196 passing yards per game.  Larry Fitzgerald remains a fantasy star, but his value is limited by the lack of consistency at quarterback.

Good Start: Larry Fitzgerald, Kellen Winslow

Middle Of The Road: Beanie Wells, LeGarrette Blount, Mike Williams

Bad Start:  Max Hall, Josh Freeman, Tim Hightower

 

SEAHAWKS VS RAIDERS

Two of the bigger surprises this season in reality, the Seahawks have found a top wide out, while the Raiders keep the ball moving on the ground.

Mike Williams is one of the feel good stories of the NFL season.  He gathers plenty of yardage and has a ton of value in PPR leagues.  Aside from him, Deon Butler enjoys some fantasy value and for now it looks like a split between Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch.

The Raiders have a few serious fantasy talents.  Darren McFadden is a must-start when healthy and Michael Bush can also offer some value as a backup option.  The other big star is tight end Zach Miller, one of the most dependable tight ends still standing. 

Good Start: Darren McFadden, Zach Miller

Middle Of The Road: Matt Hasselbeck, Michael Bush, Marshawn Lynch, Mike Williams, John Carlson

Bad Start:  Jason Campbell, Justin Forsett, Louis Murphy, Deon Butler

 

STEELERS VS SAINTS

The last two Super Bowl champions go head-to-head this weekend, we'll find out if the Saints are ready to return to form while the Steelers try to ride Big Ben to another win. 

The Steelers have become very much a pass-first offense since Ben Roethlisberger has returned from suspension.  Hines Ward, Mike Wallace, and Heath Miller have all stepped in as his key targets.  Rashard Mendenhall may have to assume a bigger role this weekend, however, as the Saints allow the third lowest total of passing yards per game. 

The Steelers come into the game with the stingiest defense in the NFL, allowing less than 14 points per game.  In particular, the Saints will struggle with the rush, as Pittsburgh allows just 64 rushing yards per game.  On the other hand, the Steelers can be vulnerable to the pass, so Drew Brees will have every shot at bouncing back.  Unfortunately, he'll likely have to do it without Reggie Bush who missed practice this week. 

Good Start: Rashard Mendenhall, Marques Colston, Mike Wallace, Hines Ward

Middle Of The Road: Ben Roethlisberger, Drew Brees, Heath Miller

Bad Start:  Christopher Ivory, Lance Moore, Robert Meachem, Jeremy Shockey

 

TEXANS VS COLTS

Last time we saw the Texans and Colts match up, the Arian Foster show was in full blast.  This will be an interesting performance for Peyton Manning, as he plays without Austin Collie and Dallas Clark.

The Texans have been surprisingly inconsistent at passing the ball this season.  Matt Schaub should still be a starting option, but you have to wonder if the strategy will once again be to beat up the Colts defense on the ground.  It's a shame, because this team has such talent in the receiving corps such as Andre Johnson, Owen Daniels, Kevin Walter, and Jacoby Jones.

The Colts will line up plenty of replacements this weekend and none has more intrigue than their former first round pick Anthony Gonzalez.  Also keep an eye on Jacob Tamme who gets the start at tight end.  Even the backfield is in disarray with Mike Hart possibly the only healthy option. 

Good Start: Peyton Manning, Arian Foster, Reggie Wayne, Andre Johnson

Middle Of The Road: Matt Schaub, Mike Hart, Donald Brown, Owen Daniels, Jacob Tamme, Pierre Garcon, Jacoby Jones, Kevin Walter, Blair White, Anthony Gonzalez

Bad Start: Derrick Ward, Steve Slaton, Joel Dreessen

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