Week 8 Recap - Pt. 2

PATRIOTS 52, REDSKINS 7: Are you serious? You might as well just give yourself a loss every time you face somebody who owns Tom Brady. He's unreal, and so is his team. You still have to explain to me how the Skins let Mike Vrabel slip into the end zone for his TD catch. He's now caught 10 NFL passes in his career, each for a TD. I'm not going to say anything else because all this Boston stuff is making me ill right now. And there's nothing on the Skins' side worth mentioning, other than Chris Cooley's TD in garbage time. Whoop-de-doo.



CHARGERS 35, TEXANS 10: I thought my satellite reception was acting up when I kept seeing Antonio Gates and Antonio Cromartie touchdowns on the Red Zone Channel on Sunday. Then I realized San Diego was just dominating this game. They didn't need to do a whole lot either after jumping out to a big lead. Philip Rivers attempted only 11 passes, and new Bolt Chris Chambers caught two of them (second only to Gates' three receptions), one for his first TD as a Charger. Pretty small sample size to figure out the role he'll play, but it was encouraging to see them go to him in the red zone, and Vincent Jackson had no catches, if that tells you anything.

SAINTS 31, 49ERS 10: The Saints look like the old Saints (the old Saints of last year, not to be confused with the old old Saints, who sucked). It helps when Drew Brees can connect with big Marques Colston for three TDs. You didn't give up on them, did you? ... Meanwhile, should you give up on Frank Gore (12 carries, 41 yards)? Well his ankle's obviously bothering him, so sure, I'm worried, but I'd consider using him against Atlanta as long as he can practice this week. We'll see.

JAGUARS 24, BUCCANEERS 23: Not much stands out in this one, just a bunch of decent efforts. A few annoying TDs - LaBrandon Toefield runs one in for the Jags instead of Maurice Jones-Drew or Fred Taylor, and Michael Bennett scored on one of just two carries while Earnest Graham did the dirty work. Joey Galloway had a nice day thanks to one of his trademark 58-yard scoring bombs.

BILLS 13, JETS 3: I was expecting a big more out of the Jets in this one, like, gee, I don't know, a touchdown. Kellen Clemens got his chance but didn't do anything with it, so who knows where that QB controversy is headed. ... Speaking of which, the Bills have one of their own now that newly appointed starter Trent Edwards got hurt and J.P. Losman was effective in his absence. It helped that he was able to throw one of these to Lee Evans, who's now had two nice games after really getting on everyone's nerves in Weeks 1-5. I'd probably start him the next two weeks against the Browns and Dolphins and see what happens.

TITANS 13, RAIDERS 9: I'll spare you the ugly details of this one and focus on one interesting area, the Tennessee backfield. LenDale White is the go-to guy, as his career-high 133 yards would indicate, but don't discount rookie Chris Henry, who many thought would win the job outright at the beginning of the year. Henry now has 105 yards and two TDs in the two games he's dressed for while Chris Brown (ankle) sits. Gotta take a good look at him in deep leagues.

Week 8 Recap - Pt. 1

BROWNS 27, RAMS 20: This one might not have captured the imagination of most football fans, but it certainly had its intrigue for fantasy purposes - lots of offensive stars and two bad defenses. Nice to see Steven Jackson back in action, and he even managed a TD ... before getting hurt again. Apparently he started getting back spasms because he was overcompensating for that bum groin. Good news is it doesn't sound serious right now and he's got a bye week to heal up ... bad news is he lost another offensive lineman (world-class bad-ass and television enthusiast Richie Incognito.) ... Marc Bulger even gave us a passable effort (310 yards, TD), even though he got even more banged-up, bruising a thumb and missing a series ... Braylon Edwards is no joke (117 yards, 2 TDs), and neither is Derek Anderson (3 TDs) at this point. They're both guys I'd look to trade for if possible, because the last for weeks of the schedule set up pretty nicely for the Brownies (Jets-Bills-Bengals-49ers).

GIANTS 13, DOLPHINS 10: If this game doesn't win over the British, nothing will! OK, maybe not. It was a pretty ugly affair all around. How's this for a whacky stat line: Eli Manning, 8 for 22, 59 yards, 1 rushing TD. Not exactly what you'd expect, but it makes sense with the constant rain making a mess of the soccer field they played on. Obviously the Giants receivers were no help, but Brandon Jacobs was, rushing for a career high 133 yards. He's a must-start, folks. Jesse Chatman wasn't too shabby in his first start for the Fins (16 carries, 79 yards, plus three catches for 21 yards), in fact he was pretty much all they had going for them. I wouldn't hesitate to use him again in two weeks against the Bills.

EAGLES 23, VIKINGS 16: Our friend Brian Westbrook continues to amaze. He touched the ball a total of 25 times for a combined 92 yards - and scored twice. Donovan McNabb threw for 333 yards but only the one TD. Take away that big game against the Lions and he's only got four TD passes in six games this year. ... Adrian Peterson had a ho-hum 70-yard day. Remember, we can't expect 200 yards every time out. But can we please get this kid a nickname? "AD" (for "All Day") just isn't doing it for me.

COLTS 31, PANTHERS 7: Still think Kenton Keith is going to play a bigger role in the Colts' O? Joe Addai's three TDs say otherwise. Peyton Manning had a rough first half but still put two TD passes on the board. Marvin Harrison was out - luckily we had some advance notice - so Reggie Wayne was the main beneficiary (seven catches, 168 yards, TD). ... Vinny Testaverde couldn't make it through two games with Carolina (shocking!), so David Carr was pressed into action again. The end result is two catches, 18 yards and a whole lot of aggravation for Steve Smith and his owners.

LIONS 16, BEARS 7: Just when I get on the Brian Griese bandwagon, he rewards me with a whopping four interceptions. Against Detroit, no less! That's what I get for trusting a Michigan Man. And how bout that Cedric Benson (13 carries, 50 yards)! He's not even on pace to crack 1,000 yards this season, and that's awful for a full-time starting back in today's NFL. ... On the flip side, Kevin Jones (105 yards, TD) is getting the job done and deserves to be in most lineups until further notice. Jon Kitna had his third straight zero-TD game, so I hope you've made other plans by now.

STEELERS 24, BENGALS 13: Savvy owners who started Ben Roethlisberger and/or Hines Ward against an atrocious Cincy pass D were rewarded with two TDs. Willie Parker had a predictable 126-yard, one-TD game. Carson Palmer wasn't bad (205 yards, TD), and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (7 catches, 81 yards, TD) is what Chad Johnson (5 catches, 51 yards) used to be. Kenny Watson (88 rushing yards, 21 receiving yards) fared surprisingly well, and there's even speculation he's supplanted Rudi Johnson as the starting tailback. Watson did get a bit beat up in this game but there's no word it's anything serious, so if for some reason he's still a free agent in your league, get him.

Photos by The Associated Press

Hot pickups - Week 8

We've already chatted about Jessie Chatman. He should be owned in just about all leagues. FIVE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)

Brian Griese is averaging 300 yards a game since taking over for Rex Grossman with eight TDs vs. six INTs. Time to take him seriously, especially against the Detroit Lions this week. FOUR STARS

Brandon Stokley will continue to see a little more action for the Denver Broncos with Javon Walker sidelined. THREE STARS

Miami Dolphins receivers Ted Ginn Jr. and Derek Hagan should get a few more balls thrown their way with Chris Chambers now in San Diego, but hold off on starting either until they show us something. TWO STARS