Week 8 Monday Morning Fantasy Wrap-Up

The shocker of Week 8 had to be the near upset of the undefeated Indianapolis Colts by the San Francisco 49ers. Running back Frank Gore, in his first game back from injury, ran 64 yards on a beautiful breakaway, to score on San Francisco's first possession. Newly-anointed QB Alex Smith looked sharp in hooking up with his rookie WR Michael Crabtree six times for 81 yards. He also found his favorite redzone target, TE Vernon Davis, for his lone TD pass of the day.

The bigger story was how the 49ers' defense managed to keep Colts QB Peyton Manning out of a rhythm all day long. While he still managed 347 passing yards, he had no touchdown passes. This is the first time in his career he's had so many passing yards with no TDs. The only other time in his 11 year career where he's even had over 300 passing yards without a TD was vs. Jacksonville in 2006, when he threw for 313 yards. Sunday also represents the first time Manning has been sacked three times in a regular season game since a December 2007 match-up against the Oakland Raiders. Hitting both in one game shows how well the 49ers' defense played against him Sunday.

The Colts' 18 points came off three field goals from fill-in kicker, Matt Stover, and a touchdown pass from running back Joseph Addai to receiver Reggie Wayne.

BAL vs. DEN - In Baltimore, the once vaunted defense of the Ravens showed up with their biggest game of the season against the undefeated Denver Broncos. The Ravens offense was unspectacular, but they managed just enough to help their defense tame the upstart Broncos. With the exception of another 100+ yard day from Ravens RB, Ray Rice, the only thing fantasy notable, was the complete lack of fantasy production from either team.

CLE vs. CHI - If anyone was still awake after the first two quarters to watch the second half of this loser of a game, then they saw what fantasy owners have been desperately waiting on for eight long weeks; Matt Forte finding the endzone and putting up 100+ total yards. In fact, Forte had his first two TD scores of the season. Unfortunately, his YPC was still under 3.5, and he was playing the league's third worst rush defense. So, if you can stomach it, trade him away now that people think he's on the road to fantasy gold again. He's not. Meanwhile, Bears QB Jay Cutler had another interception and no TDs. There was simply nothing else fantasy notable about this game.

SEA vs. DAL - As expected, Matt Hasselbeck and the Seahawks continued to play poorly on the road, relatively speaking. Hasselbeck plays average on the road and like Peyton Manning at home. Meanwhile, RB Julius Jones may as well have stayed in Seattle rather than make the trip for all he's added or aided the team. (Note to the Seahawks' brain-trust, even Larry Johnson has more upside than Jones). WR Deion Branch caught his first TD of the season, but T.J. Houshmandzadeh was a ghost in the passing game.

For the home team Cowboys, QB Tony Romo looked great, throwing for 256 yards and three TDs, including one to Miles Austin (his third week in a row), one to 4th stringer Sam Hurd, and one to his out-of-sync star, Roy Williams. Including Patrick Crayton's punt return for a score, all four Dallas wide-outs found the endzone Sunday. On a down note, none of the Cowboy's RBs did much worth mentioning for fantasy purposes.

STL vs. DET - The Rams and Lions entered this contest with one combined win. St. Louis was trying to avoid their 18th straight loss, and they did squeak by at the last minute thanks to RB Steven Jackson's first TD of the season. I had expected him to snag two, but one was enough. He also had over 160 total yards yet again. Perhaps the flood gates will slip open, but he faces a couple of tough match-ups after the team's bye week. Much like the Chicago/Cleveland game, the star RB was the only fantasy factor this week, though if you own Rams kicker Josh Brown, he did throw a touchdown off a fake field goal attempt.

TEN vs. JAX- In the week's other match-up featuring a winless team, the Titans, the desperate team used their star running back to get into the win column. The Titans ran their way past the Jaguars with Chris Johnson ran 24 times for 228 yards and two touchdowns. QB Vince Young made his first start of the season throwing for 125 yards, one TD and no interceptions. His one TD pass went to Nate Washington who was also on Friday's bye week filler list.

For the Jacksonville Jaguars, RB Maurice Jones-Drew continued to dominate with 177 yards rushing and two scores. He accounted for 100% of the team's offense on the day. The Tennessee Titans once vaunted pass defense finally showed up, keeping Jags QB, David Garrard of the score sheet and nabbing two interceptions. In the team's previous 2009 meeting, Garrard had three TD passes.

MIA vs. NYJ- This was one of those games that was hard to call. Both teams match up very well. For the second game this season they managed to put up big points, and like the first game, the Dolphins got the edge. All it took was WR Ted Ginn, Jr. staring down the barrel of a demotion. In response he ran back two 100 yard kick-off returns for TDs, and DE Jason Taylor added a third TD on a 49-yard fumble recovery. For the first week in a while, both Miami RBs stayed out of the endzone.

For the Jets, the fantasy notable was TE Dustin Kellerwho finally turned some of his many targets into receptions. He had eight catches Sunday, leading the team. He and new WR Braylon Edwards both scored for New York, giving rookie QB Mark Sanchez two passing TDs and one rushing TD in the loss.

OAK vs. SDC- For the Chargers' star RB, LaDainian Tomlinson, it took a game against the league's second worst rush defense to finally score two TDs in a game. If you're an optimist, this is the culmination of the strides he'd been taking in recent weeks. If you're a pessimist, it's probably his high-water mark for the season. If you're a realist, his paltry 56 rushing yards and 3.1 YPC average tell the whole story. Which means the pessimist was probably right. Beyond L.T.s notable day, no one else stands out from a fantasy perspective except Chargers WR Vincent Jackson who eclipsed 100 yards and scored. Philip Rivers was average throwing one TD and one INT. The Raiders' QB woes continue, with JaMarcus Russell telling reporters after the loss that he was pleased with his 109 yard passing effort. Oakland's RB Justin Fargas matched Tomlinson, minus one score, and was the team's only plus for the day.

ARI vs. CAR- The Panthers finally showed up to play this week, handing the Cardinals a surprising loss. Carolina went early and often to their running game, with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathon Stewart running for a combined 245 yards. Stewart scored twice. Disgruntled wide receiver Steve Smith also caught a TD pass from his much-maligned QB, Jake Delhomme, who played his first game of the season without throwing an interception. Perhaps the "inaccuracy-demon" left Delhomme and invaded Cardinals' QB Kurt Warner, who threw five interceptions, matching a career high he set against the Seahawks in December 2007. The Panthers' Julius Peppers returned one INT for a TD. Warner also fumbled once. In all, the Cardinals had six turnovers, and all came off the hands of Warner.

Enjoy the Monday Night game between the Saints and Falcons and I'll see you back Friday with this week's Start/Sit.

by Rustyn Rose at Top Fantasy Football