Week Eight Wrap Up

Stars

Brian Westbrook - After getting a much needed week off with the bye, Brian Westbrook returned to top form at home against the Atlanta Falcons racking up 209 total yards and 2 TD's.  Assuming Westbrook stays healthy (and that's a big assumption), he'll be a fantasy force for the remainder of the season and should show up in the stars section many more times.

(Photo by Mel Evans / AP)

LaDainian Tomlinson - For at least one game, LT returned into the fantasy stud we all know and love.  Tomlinson ran for 105 yards and caught for another 65, and a TD.  Too bad, he can't play more games in England.  He's now going into the bye week and will have some extra time to rest his injured big toe.  If he comes out of the bye at 100%, he's setup for a big second half with teams like the Chiefs (twice), Colts, Falcons, Raiders and Broncos on the remainder of the schedule.

Drew Brees - The Chargers second round pick in the 2001 draft, came back to haunt them a few days before Halloween throwing for 339 yards and 3 TD's in a 37-32 win.  Like LT, he's going into the bye week now, but has a very favorable schedule afterwords.  Unless he gets injured, Brees will be the NFL's top QB at the end of the year.

Santana Moss - Playing against the NFL practice squad, it came as no surprise that the Redskins top receiver lit it up this week with 140 yards and a TD. 

Philip Rivers - I think it may be time to get Philip a membership in the stars section.  Once again, one of the NFL's top QB's is here with a big yet another big performance (341 yards and 3 TD's).  Rivers is making a strong case to be the NFL MVP.

Stumblers

Cincinnati Bengals - I'm sorry, but when you get SMASHED by the Houston Texans, you're doing something very very VERY wrong.  If you haven't already sold off your Bengals by now, then stop reading this blog post right now and do it.  Trade them, drop them, super glue them to your bench, whatever it takes.

Jeff Garcia - With the Cowboys on the ropes, it wouldn't take much to knock them out easily.  It didn't happen and Jeff Garcia was most responsible.  He didn't turn over the ball, but only 228 yards passing and zero TD's against a team that couldn't stop the big play if they had 20 guys on the field.

Maurice Jones-Drew - Probably my biggest disappointment of the week.  Just last week, a banged up Clinton Portis ran for 175 yards against the Browns.  Well rested and at home MJD should have enjoyed a monster game.  He didn't have a monster game, but running for only 29 yards is very scary.  MJD has the Bengals and Lions next.  If he can't run for a 100 yards in one of those two games he should just quit football altogether.

Brett Favre - Rarely will you ever see a QB that threw for 290 yards and 2 TD's show up in the Stumblers section, but his 3 INT's against the Chiefs is ridiculous.  Favre played in his third straight fantasy friendly matchup and did average, at best.  In the last three weeks Favre has played the Bengals, Raiders and Chiefs and in those games threw 3 TD's, 7 INT's and fumbled 4 times (losing one).  Based on that, if this isn't Favre's last year, I feel sorry for anyone that picks him up.

Ben Roethlisberger - 99% of the time when Ben has a bad game, I give him the benefit of the doubt.  Most the time, its the offensive line or bad play calling (if they blitz 7 or 8 and only 5 are blocking its not the line's fault), but this one has to be on Ben.  Far too many times the pocket collapsed and instead of throwing the ball away, he keeps trying to make something happen and either got sacked or picked off.  Sometimes the best thing you can do, is throw the ball away.

Posted Oct 27 2008, 09:33 AM by Nick Fruscello
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Comments

KevinZuk wrote re: Week Eight Wrap Up
on Tue, Oct 28 2008 9:18 AM

Hey Nick,

I have another question for you (what else is new?). My trade opened up a roster spot on my team and there are several attractive free agents. We start 2 rbs, 1 qb, 3 wrs and 1 te.

Here's my roster: Warner, Favre. Rbs, Westbrook, Chris Johnson, Graham and Fargas. Wrs, Housh, Marshall, Colston, Holmes and Avery. Te, Winslow.

Here are some of the free agents:

Sammy Morris, Fasano, Ginn, Jerious Norwood, Shiancoe, Ricky Williams, Steve Smith (NYG), Chester Taylor, and with a bunch of hype, Torain. Also, a couple of Chicago receivers are out there on the wire: Booker and Rashied Davis are both available. Which of these guys should I pick up for the long haul? It's a PPR league, where TDs are 7 points. Thanks Nick!

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Week Eight Wrap Up
on Tue, Oct 28 2008 12:58 PM

Hey Kevin,

That's a really solid team you have now.  You seem like you're pretty well set.  I'm not real high on Bears receivers.  I've always said Chicago is where wide receivers go to die.  Bad weather, lots of wind, etc.  Whomever you picked up for this spot would be a gamble, so why not go with Torain?  I like Norwood and Taylor, but they're backups and unless there's an injury, you can forget about them getting any meaningful touches.  Torain is the most likely player to start someday.

theWellHungarian wrote re: Week Eight Wrap Up
on Wed, Oct 29 2008 9:30 AM

Your Wings are lookin scary with Hossa, Nick. On to football ... I've had MJD in my lineup all season & aside from 1 game, he has been a major bust. I can't sell him, because the best I would get would maybe be one of Santonio Holmes' roaches. I've also hung on to Ray Rice all season, who seems to be getting more work & is getting receiving yards & some rushing yards. I've also picked up Kevin Faulk who had a huge week last week. This is a must win game for me, assumming Mewelde doesn't start, which 2 do you start: Thomas Jones @ Buffalo, Mo-Jo @ Cinci, K. Faulk @ Indy, Ray Rice @ Cleve, or Mew Moore @ Washington ...

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Week Eight Wrap Up
on Wed, Oct 29 2008 11:49 AM

Hey Hungarian,

Yeah, the Wings are looking pretty good so far, but the goaltending is shaky.  Hossa and Co are burning out the red light to make up for it right now.  As for MJD, he has been a major bust so far this year, mostly due to the Jags o-line injuries, but you can't give up on him now.  If MJD is going to get it going at all this season, its now.  I would start MJD at Cincy (and at Det next week) and I would go with Kevin Faulk at Indy.  The Pats are having big injury problems with their backfield and Faulk should see more touches than usual.

italfreak32 wrote re: Week Eight Wrap Up
on Wed, Oct 29 2008 11:10 PM

Nick,

any advice on what to do when your rooting interests are conflicted?  I've been riding the Redskins to success this year (Portis, Moss, and Suisham, plus Washington D), so it's going to be a rough week to watch.  Personal rooting issues aside, I have 2 questions - one practical and one philosophical.  Practically, would I be totally insane to bench Big Ben and start Marc Bulger at home against Arizona?  philosophically, what's your attitude on one or more of your offensive players playing your starting defense?  On the one hand it prevents losing any points if they turn the ball over; on the other hand it makes it more difficult for your defense to be of net benefit to your team.  Thoughts?

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Week Eight Wrap Up
on Thu, Oct 30 2008 9:44 AM

Hey italfreak,

It is tough to cheer against your favorite in favor of your fantasy team, but I look at it this way.  The regular season is 90% fantasy sports, 10% favorites while the playoffs are 100% favorites.  The Ducks beat the Red Wings last night and I had a bunch of Duck players on my team.  I hate to watch the Wings lose, but its fun to score fantasy points and after all, its just one game, we'll get them back in the playoffs when it matters.  No, you wouldn't be insane to start Bulger over Ben.  Bulger has been playing a lot better the past couple weeks and the Cards have a very soft pass defense.