Week 8 Where to Put em

Put 'em In The Game: Matthew Stafford
Matt Stafford looks to make his return this week from his Week 1 injury to face the Washington Redskins. There's nothing like a favorable match up to help ease a QB back into a rhythm. Only 1 other team gives up more yards per game through the air than Washington and only three other teams give up more fantasy points to opposing QB's. This is a nice match up for Stafford.

Put 'em In The Game: Jon Kitna
Kitna, the former Lions' QB and backup for the injured Tony Romo, was pretty decent filling in last week throwing for 187 yards and 2 scores. If you're playing the match ups, this is a nice one for Kitna. The Jaguars allow an average of 265 yards through the air (ranked 27th in the league) and more than 2 passing TD's (ranked 31st in the league). If you're in need of bye-week guy, Kitna could be your guy. Somebody's gotta throw to Miles Austin and Jason Witten, right?

Put 'em In The Game: Jamaal Charles
Jamaal Charles has not rushed for more than 100 yards in a game this season, but with the exception of 2 games, he has had more than 100 all-purpose yards each game. This could be the game where Charles sees the century mark rushing as Buffalo gives up 178 yards on the ground (31st in the league). Thomas Jones makes for a great play this week as well. Both should have good games.

Put 'em In The Game: Ryan Torain
Torain has been one of our favorite waiver wire wonders this year. It was the prevailing thought before the season that Clinton Portis would get injured again and miss time. What wasn't known was when that would happen. Even if Portis comes back in a few weeks, it's awfully hard to expect him to replace Torain the lineup. With that being said, we're hotly anticipating a solid fantasy day out of Torain against the Lions who have allowed opposing RB's to run all over them. Expect another 100+ yard rushing day out of Torain.

Put 'em In The Game: Pierre Garcon
Pierre Garcon is our pick for WR start of the week. The loss of Dallas Clark and the injury to Austin Collie leave both Reggie Wayne and Garcon with more targets. Defenses will have to focus on Wayne leaving Garcon to do what he did against Washington right before the bye week. There's no trick here. Combine Peyton Manning, Monday Night Football, and a Houston defense that gives up 192 yards (30th in the league) to opposing WR's and you've got a scary combination for fantasy treats.

Put 'em In The Game: Terrell Owens
It's difficult to predict whether Terrell Owens or Chad Ochocinco will have a better game each week. Ochocinco is still the main guy, but Owens is doing his fair share of fantasy damage. He has scored in each of his last 3 games and is averaging 14 yards per reception this year. The Dolphins are a middle-of-the-road pass defense that won't let T.O. have a 200+ yard game like he did three weeks ago, but will still give up enough yards and points to make Owens an attractive start once again.

Put 'em In The Game: Randy Moss
Normally you won't see a Stud listed here because it's assumed that they will start, but Moss hasn't really played like a stud this year. He has not caught more than 5 passes in a game nor has he exceeded 81 yards in a game all year. The reason we're putting him here and like him a lot this week is because he's making the trip back to New England. Regardless of what's said in the media, Moss is going to want to put up a big game against his old team. As long as the Vikings QB (whoever that is going to be) can get the ball up in the air, Moss should be able to take advantage of the Pats who rank 27th in the league giving up 186 yards to opposing WR's.

Put 'em In The Game: Brandon Pettigrew
With Matt Stafford back under center, Pettigrew should continue to be a solid contributor to the Lions' offense. Because he plays for the Lions and doesn't have the last name of Johnson or Best, he's only owned in 36% of FleaFlicker leagues which makes him an attractive pickup if you're in need of a TE.

Put 'em In The Game: Jason Witten
It was nice to see the return of the old Jason Witten last week as he hauled in 9 receptions for 95 yards and a score. Kitna was looking for him and that should continue this week against a porous Jacksonville pass defense that allows the 25th most fantasy points to opposing TE's.

Put 'em In The Game: Josh Scobee
With the exception of Week 5's awesome 20+ point game, Scobee has been a pretty consistent kicker averaging close to 7 points per game. The Cowboys defense allows 10+ points on average to opposing kickers which ranks 28th in the league.

Put 'em On The Bench: Brett Favre
The doctors have told Favre that he's cleared to play as long as he can tolerate the pain of two stress fractures in his left ankle. Whether or not Favre suits up to continue his ironman streak remains to be seen. On paper this is a match up that a healthy Favre would exploit, but an injured and tired Favre should make fantasy owners nervous. If you have a safer option this week, we suggest you exercise it.

Put 'em On The Bench: Matt Hasselbeck
We are pretty good with numbers here at FFN and we love stats, but the fact that Oakland gives up the 24th most fantasy points to opposing QB's doesn't impress us. They only give up a 6th-best 208 yards per game through the air and kept Kyle Orton and the Broncos to 198 yards. If you take away Week 1, Hasselbeck hasn't put up decent numbers all year. The safe play here is to leave Hasselbeck on your bench. With several tough games ahead of him, he may not even warrant a bench spot anymore.

Put 'em On The Bench: Ryan Mathews
Where is the guy who ran wild for Fresno State and was the heir-apparent to LT? If you take away Week 1, Mathews has not had more than 12 attempts nor has he exceeded 64 yards rushing in a single game. Last week he averaged 1.9 yards/carry for a whopping 15 yards against the Pats. He faces the Titans this week who are awfully tough on running backs allowing them the 5th-fewest yards in the NFL. We know you didn't draft Mathews to sit him, but it's pretty difficult to recommend him as a start this week.

Put 'em On The Bench: Chris Ivory
The Saints/Steelers game is sure to be a fun Halloween game to watch, but not if you're a Chris Ivory owner. Pierre Thomas is out and early reports indicate that Reggie Bush won't be making his return from injury this week. Ivory has been a decent fill in (particularly in Week 6 against TB), but the Steelers are ridiculously tough on running backs allowing the 2nd fewest fantasy points per game to them according to FleaFlicker.com. Unless Ivory gets a lucky break, he's going to struggle all night against Pittsburgh.

Put 'em On The Bench: Michael Crabtree
What the bloody hell happened to Crabtree? Owners cannot be chuffed to bits with his play this year. Only a daft half penny would start Crabtree against Champ Bailey in jolly ol' London this week. Minus Week 5, Crabtree should probably play Rugger as he could only muster a best 5 receptions for 58 yards. You'd have to be off your trolley to not take a gander around for a replacement this week. Quite.

Put 'em On The Bench: Santonio Holmes
Many a fantasy owner (including us) took a late, late draft pick on Holmes and stashed him away until Week 5. In that first game back, it was encouraging to see Sanchez take several shots downfield to Holmes who ended up dropping more than he caught. His play in his first two weeks back have been mediocre. Granted they've been against Minnesota and Denver, but this week's opponent (Green Bay) isn't a slouch either. We like Holmes in Weeks 10, 11, 12, and 13 but not so much this week.

Put 'em On The Bench: Jeremy Shockey
Jeremy Shockey is averaging almost 4 receptions and 39 yards per game, good enough for 15th in the league, but still not impressive enough to consider playing against a very tough Pittsburgh D.

Put 'em On The Bench: Marcedes Lewis
Marcedes Lewis has been a decent pick up for many fantasy owners this year (currently the 9th highest scoring fantasy TE according to FleaFlicker), but his match up looks pretty tough this week against the Cowboys who have given up the 5th-fewest fantasy points and 5th-fewest yards to opposing TE's this year.