2009 Week Eight Wrap Up

Stars

Chris Johnson - For the second time this year, Johnson racks up over 200 total yards and for the second time, he gets the first star for the week.  Johnson ran for 228 yards and 2 TDs including an 89 yarder in the 4th quarter.  The Titans have a pretty favorable schedule the rest of the way, so it wouldn't surprise me to see Johnson up here a third time.

Ryan Moats - Yep, you read it right.  Ryan Moats.  Some people didn't even know he existed until this week.  The Texans third string running back came out of nowhere and rushed for 126 yards and 3 TDs against the hapless Bills.  He'll be the hot waiver wire pickup of the week, but it'll be interesting to see if he stays the starter over Steve Slaton.

Maurice Jones-Drew - MJD only carried the ball 8 times in this game, but came away with 177 yards and 2 TDs.  Both of his TDs were for long runs of 80 and 79 yards.  Next week he'll be up against the KC Chiefs.  Let the good times roll!

Brett Favre - In his return to Green Bay, Favre played like Lambeau field was the fountain of youth.  He looked like he did in his prime throwing for 244 yards and 4 TDs in the Vikings 38-26 win.

Reggie Wayne - Turning in his best performance of the season, Wayne caught 12 passes for 147 yards and TD pass from Joseph Addai.  So much for that groin injury slowing him up.

Stumblers

Steve Slaton - Where there's a fantasy surprise, you won't have to look far for a fantasy disappointment.  Slaton was benched after his first carry when he fumbled.  It was his 7th lost fumble of the year and it was enough to give him the hook.  With Ryan Moats running far better than Slaton has all year, will his role change?  For Slaton owners, this is a nightmare.  Not only did he let you down in a big way this week against a soft opponent, his job is in jeopardy.

Donnie Avery - Its no secret, the Lions are terrible against the pass... and the run... and in pretty much every aspect of the game.  Avery had just one catch for 15 yards.  One catch against Jacksonville two weeks ago, one catch this week in Detroit... I think its time to give up on Donnie if you haven't already.

Wildcat Offense - Last time these two met up, the Wildcat went wild on the Jets defense.  This week, Rex Ryan showed that his defense learned a thing or two from their previous encounter.  The best rushing team in the league ran for just 52 yards and neither Ronnie Brown nor Ricky Williams scored a TD.

Kurt Warner - The Cardinals and the Panthers got together yesterday and did a little reenactment of their playoff game from last January except this time Arizona played the part of the Panthers and Kurt Warner did his best Jake Delhomme impression.  Warner turned the ball over 6 times (5 INT, 1 lost fumble) as the Cardinals were dominated at home 34-21.

JaMarcus Russell - Just when you thought the worst QB in the league couldn't get any worse... Russell threw for only 109 yards, an INT, fumbled, was sacked 5 times and threw for an average of 5 yards per completion.  You haven't heard the best part yet... after the game Russell said he "did a pretty good job".  He barely threw for over 100 yards.  His QB rating was 56.8  He was picked off and fumbled.  What part of that is "pretty good"?  The only way he could be worse would be if he literally handed the ball to the defense and started blocking for them.