NFL: Week Eight Fantasy Football Tips
Week Eight of the NFL season is upon us and it is time to start giving out the fantasy tricks and treats for Halloween weekend. This week’s match ups feature the Eagles hosting the Giants for supremacy in the NFC East, Brett Favre makes his return to Lambeau Field as the Vikes take on the Packers, and Alex Smith officially takes over the reins for the Niners as they travel to Indy to battle Peyton and the Colts.
Teams having a bye this week: Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Washington Redskins
Start
DeSean Jackson leads the league in plays from scrimmage of 40 yards or more with six. New York’s secondary is more physical than it is fast. Look for the Eagles to get the ball to Jackson in space where he can run past the Giants secondary.
Miles Austin should pile up a bunch of yards after the catch this weekend against a Seattle team that does not tackle well.
Matt Forte should finally have a big game this weekend as the Browns are allowing 170.6 yards per game to opposing rushers this season.
With Leon Washington being placed on injured reserve with a broken league fantasy owners should look to pick up Shonn Greene. Greene is expected to pick up the fifteen or so touches Washington was getting a game.
Buffalo is giving up over 170 yards per game on the ground this season so this should finally be the week that Steve Slaton gets his nut running the ball.
The Bills have had trouble against some of the better tight ends in the league so look for Owen Daniels to have another strong game this week.
Look for Drew Brees and company to light it up against an ailing Falcons secondary that has allowed 589 passing yards and five touchdowns the last two weeks.
Ronnie Brown ran for 74 yards and a pair of scores the first go around with the Jets and has scored in three straight and four of the last five games for the ‘Phins. Brown has scored five times in the last three games for Miami.
Ricky Williams ran for 68 yards against the Jets in week six and is coming off a 3 touchdown performance against the Saints and has five touchdowns in his last 4 games.
Brian Hartline is coming off a 3-catch, 94-yard performance against New Orleans and is reportedly practicing with the first team offense this week.
Torry Holt has caught 12 passes for 196 yards in his last two games and Tennessee is allowing over 300 yards per game through the air.
Mike Sims-Walker is averaging 7 catches and 99 yards per game in his last four starts making him a good play against a soft Titans secondary.
Chris “Beanie” Wells is expected to make his first start of the season on Sunday against a Panthers defense that is allowing over 130 yards per game on the ground this year.
Bench/Be Wary Of
As of Wednesday morning Philadelphia’s Brian Westbrook is listed as questionable and the consensus seems to be that he will not play against the Giants on Sunday. He went for tests to determine the extent of his concussion on Tuesday and more will be known later in the week.
Houston’s Andre Johnson is listed as questi0nable with a chest contusion and it has been reported that he suffered a bruised lung on Sunday. Early reports are that he is expected to play but that could change so keep an eye on his status throughout the week.
Buffalo’s Trent Edwards has been ruled out of this weekend’s game as he continues to recover from a concussion he suffered against the Jets in Week Six. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start in his place, but, based on his game against Carolina he probably is not worth starting.
Calvin Johnson is still not practicing coming out of the bye week. Matthew Stafford has been taking snaps this week with the first team offense, but if Johnson cannot go playing Detroit’s quarterback is pretty useless.
Ted Ginn, Jr. is reportedly not practicing with the first team offense this week after dropping some key passes in Sunday’s second half meltdown against the Saints. The consensus seems to be that he will play Sunday but will not be an every down player.
Arizona is allowing only 67.5 yards per game on the ground so do not expect big yardage numbers from either DeAngelo Williams or Johnathan Stewart this weekend.
Bernard Berrian injured his hamstring against Pittsburgh and has only caught 5 passes for36 yards in his last two games.
Jerricho Cotchery is reportedly back to practice this week but is still listed as questionable on the team’s injury report.
Aside from his 207 yard game against the Seahawks Frank Gore has rushed for just 66 yards on 36 carries this season.
On The Rise/Hot Hands
Miles Austin has caught 16 passes for 421 yards and four scores in the Cowboys last two games.
Thomas Jones has run for 331 yards and two touchdowns in the Jets last two contests, and has scored seven times on the season.
Baltimore’s Ray Rice is averaging 163 yards of total offense in his last three games and has scored three touchdowns over the last two weeks.
Sidney Rice has caught 16 passes for 312 yards over the Vikings last two games.
Reggie Wayne has caught at least six passes and scored a touchdown in five of his six games this year.
Matt Schaub has passed for 899 yards and thrown 8 touchdowns over the Texans last three games.
Phillip Rivers has thrown seven touchdown passes over his last three games and has thrown for at least 250 yards in every game this season. He also has not thrown an interception since the second game of the season.
Aaron Rodgers has passed for at least 246 yards and thrown at least two touchdowns in the last four games for Green Bay.
Donald Driver has 191 receiving yards the last two games and has had at least 84 yards in four of his last five games.
Ryan Grant has rushed for 238 yards the past two weeks and has gone for at least 90 yards in three of the Packers last four outings.
Owen Daniels has three touchdowns in his last two games and has caught 22 passes for 295 yards over his last three.
Vincent Jackson has caught touchdown passes in two straight games for the Chargers.
Joseph Addai has scored touchdowns in four straight games for the Colts and has scored in five out of their six games this season.
Even though he is not putting up the big yardage numbers he did last season Michael Turner has scored in five straight games and has seven total for the year.
Roddy White has scored in three straight with four overall touchdowns in those games.
Philly’s defense has a league high 18 takeaways, is second in the league with 21 sacks, and fourth in the league in yards allowed.
Chicago’s Devin Hester has caught 14 passes for 184 yards over the Bears last two outings.
San Francisco’s Vernon Davis has six touchdowns in his last four games.
Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks has caught at least four passes in his last three games and has scored a touchdown in four straight. He is also averaging 19.7 yards per reception this season.
Austin Collie has scored touchdowns in three straight games for the Colts and has four total over the last three weeks.
On the Decline
Giants running back Ahmad Bradshaw has rushed for just 80 yards on 22 carries over the Giants last two games, but he does have a touchdown.
Terrell Owens has caught just 10 passes for 84 yards over the last three weeks and has scored just one touchdown on the season.
Dallas’ Marion Barber is averaging just 56 yards of total offense per game and has scored just one touchdown since injuring his quad in week two. He is also averaging only 3.5 yards per carry since the injury.
Matt Forte has just 109 yards of total offense in his last two games and has scored just one touchdown this year.
Jamal Lewis has just 83 yards of total offense in the Browns last two contests.
San Francisco’s Isaac Bruce has caught just five passes for 43 yards over the Niners’ last three games.
Seattle’s Julius Jones has just 76 yards of total offense in his last three games.
Chicago’s Jay Cutler has thrown just three touchdowns against five interceptions that last two weeks.
Mark Sanchez has thrown just two touchdowns and eight interceptions in his last four games. He has also not thrown for more than 200 yards since week one.
Willis McGahee has rushed for just 12 yards on 13 carries and has scored just one touchdown in the Ravens last three contests.
Kerry Collins has not thrown a touchdown in his last two games and has passed for just 157 yards in those two games.
