Giants Daily Blitz Blog

Week 8 Fantasy Football Grades

The views expressed in this article are not of the New York Football Giants but those of an independent Fantasy Expert.

Start

Cam Newton QB Panthers

Last Week: 351 total yards

Newton had another impressive outing throwing the ball in the windy city, which is usually a challenge for everyone else.  Though he failed to find the end zone, Newton showed that he can still throw it with the best of them and that he’s not going without a fight this season.  Look for him to improve weekly, especially with the worst pass defense up next on the schedule, which could lead to his best game of the
year.

(Arrow Up)

Alex Green RB Packers

Last Week: 82 total yards

Green had another consistent day at the office, rushing for 54 yards off of 22 carries and catching four passes for 28 yards receiving.  Still waiting for that goal line carry and breakout performance, Green will most likely get another crack at it next week vs. Arizona Cardinals.

(Arrow Up)

Patriots Defense: 7 points allowed, 2 interceptions, 2 sacks

The New England Patriots as a whole put on a show in London when they faced the St. Louis Rams on Sunday.  Not only did the defense give up just seven points on the day, but the offense scored 45 points. That means the Rams offense had plenty of opportunities to do damage, but just couldn’t get it done vs. a proven and one of the most underrated defenses in the league today.

(Arrow Up)

Greg Olsen TE Panthers

Last Week: 3 catches 23 yards

You would think that if Cam Newton threw for over 315 yards that his tight end would reap at least some chunks of receiving yards, which was far from the case.  Olsen will have to wait another for the next matchup against his former team, if he wants to get some sort of revenge.

(Arrow Down)

Bench

DeAngelo Williams: 11 carries for 33 yards

William was yet again a disappointment for all fantasy owners.  Though at the very least by now you can’t say that you didn’t see this one coming or surprised. If anything, it’s an encouragement for touching the ball 11 times, compared to just 10 combined in his previous two games played.

(Arrow Up)

Shonn Greene: 77 yards rushing

Benching Greene wasn’t an easy decision, but in his last meeting he got 40 total yards off of 19 carries, so I thought that was justifiable. Greene gave a performance that was considerably worthy of a start, but didn’t find the end zone to affect your outcome that dramatically.

(Arrow neutral)

Steelers Defense: 12 points allowed, 1 sack

The Steelers defense vs. Washington Redskins turned out to be the Steelers defense finally.  Not doing anything spectacular or highlight worthy but just doing what they do best, containing the opponents best player on the offensive side of the ball.  Many of dropped passes didn’t hurt to the Steelers solid scheme, RG3 had three instances in where his receivers couldn’t hang on to what appeared to be 3 easy touchdowns and the Steelers defense failed to create any turnovers which didn’t help or hurt you.

(Arrow Neutral)

Matthew Stafford: 353 yards passing, 3 Passing touchdowns, Int

Mark this one up as a bit of ignorance, as we all expected the Texas gun slinger to emerge at some point in the season.  Figured vs. the 3rd best pass defense wasn’t the right move this week, but boy I stood corrected.  With four total touchdowns on the day, Stafford has now rushed for 3 touchdowns in the past 4 games.

(Arrow Down)

Waiver-Wire

Daniel Thomas RB Dolphins, Last Week: 42 yards, TD

Though Thomas was mainly used as a clock killing machine when the games was getting out of hand for the Jets, he has shown he is more than capable and a viable back up for your bench with great potential.
Barring any setback for Reggie Bush, who is known for getting banged up, it couldn’t hurt to have Thomas hang around the bench for a few weeks and see what happens.

Santa Moss WR Redskins, Last Week: 21 yards, TD

Moss has 3 touchdowns in the past two weeks and his fifth on the year in just 8 games played thus far. Griffin and Moss would even have bigger numbers if not for a few drops in the past weeks and crucial fumble in Week 7 vs. Giants towards the closing seconds.  Yet he still is available in over half of all leagues.

Scott Chandler TE Bills, 2012 stats: 4 touchdowns

Chandler has dropped a bit in the past month or so.  With another iffy performance in his last two games played (3 catches for 19 yards) — and the Bills bye week taking into a huge factor — fantasy owners have neglected one of the best kept secrets and most underrated red-zone receiving threats in football.