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| The AFC is a little more even through eight weeks than the NFC is. |
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10. Trade
Deadline
Because of Hurricane Sandy, the trade deadline was pushed
back from Tuesday (yesterday) to Thursday (tomorrow). The deadline had already
been pushed back two weeks from where it was last year to encourage more deals.
So far, one trade of note has come in after the original
deadline passed. Wide receiver Mike Thomas was traded from the Jaguars to the
Lions in exchange for a mid-round draft pick. Nate Burleson broke his leg last
week and Detroit hopes that between Thomas and Titus Young, who is coming off a
big game, will help pull coverage off Calvin Johnson.
9. DeAngelo
Hall
Shanahan, it’s time. Hall was ejected after getting into it
with an official during Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh. Tuesday he tried to
deflect blame when he appeared on a radio show. As it is, his level of play is
declining significantly each year and while he was a good play for the Redskins
for a couple years, he isn’t there anymore. That, mixed with his attitude,
should be enough to ship him out of Washington when the season ends.
8. Michael
Vick
Andy Reid decided Wednesday that Michael Vick will remain
the starting quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Most experts are agreeing
with the move, and I am, too. The Eagles are still in the playoff hunt, and
bringing in an inexperienced quarterback, good as it may be for the future of
the franchise, is not the right move as long as the team still has a chance of
extending their season.
7. Fantasy
Disappointments
There were plenty of fantasy disappointments this week, so
I’ll just list a few that stood out to me.
- Victor Cruz scored all of three points in my fantasy league, one of which came off his two receptions because it’s a PPR league. Don’t worry too much, yet, because his eight targets still led the team, and it was somewhat reminiscent of the Week 1 matchup against the Cowboys, which he bounced off of nicely, but it was still a disappointing week.
- The Vikings defense was averaging 14.5 points per home game this season. But when Tampa Bay paid a visit, Minnesota’s unit scored -2 points. Yes, two points in the red. That’s a disappointing outing anyway, but especially at home where the Vikings defense has been rock solid in 2012.
- Jamaal Charles scored just 1.5 points in my league this week. He had three consecutive big weeks earlier this season, but that feels like a distant memory now. Romeo Crennel was at a loss for why Charles only carried the ball five times against Oakland, so figure that he’ll carry much more against a struggling San Diego defense.
6. Fantasy Surprises
- Matthew Stafford scored more points than anyone else in the NFL this week with 36. It was more of a disappointment for me, though, because he was on my bench. After he had struggled early in the season, I benched my first round pick – I’m aSHAMEd of that (Dave Dameshek would be proud) – for Andy Dalton. Dalton was on bye this week. So what do I do? I pick up Ryan Tannehill and start him. He gets hurt, scores no points. Meanwhile, Stafford is having his first multi-touchdown game of the season, sitting on my bench. If I had started him, I would have won my matchup by 3 points. Okay, I’m good.
- Seattle shut down Calvin Johnson and Titus Young responded. 28.5 points was good for fifth most in my league for Week 8.
5. Games to Watch
Like last week, I’ll be more specific on why these are the biggest games to watch
in my predictions post tomorrow.
- Kansas City Chiefs at San Diego Chargers (Thursday, 8:20 p.m.)
- Denver Broncos at Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
- Carolina Panthers at Washington Redskins (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
- Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts (Sunday, 1:00 p.m.)
- Pittsburgh Steelers at New York Giants (Sunday, 4:25 p.m.)
4. Power Rankings
For the sake of space, I will list just the top 6 and the
bottom 6 here. You can see the rest on NFL.com.
1. Atlanta Falcons
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27. Buffalo Bills
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2. Houston Texans
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28. Cleveland Browns
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3. Chicago Bears
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29. Carolina Panthers
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4. New York Giants
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30. New Orleans Saints
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5. San Francisco 49ers
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31. Jacksonville Jaguars
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6. Green Bay Packers
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32. Kansas City Chiefs
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You figure that at this point of the season, there won’t be
much change. In fact, the top six is identical to last week’s. But there were a
few big changes. In particular, the Lions and Buccaneers both jumped 10 spots
to 14th and 16th respectively. The Cardinals and Eagles
dropped six spots to 19th and 20th and the Jets fell from
18th to 25th.
The Power Poll is a better representation of where the teams
stack up, in my opinion. Check that out here.
3. New York Giants
Despite nearly blowing a 23-0 lead in Dallas, the Giants
maintained their standing as 4th in the NFL.com Power Rankings. The
Cowboys are reeling, and so some may think the Giants are doing the same. But
this is a script many of us have seen before. The Giants struggle against the
Cowboys. But after a tough loss in Week 1, I think all we needed to see was
them win to keep our confidence in
New York sky high.
2. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were already #1, so they can’t go any higher,
but in handing Andy Reid and his Eagles their first ever loss after a bye, the
Falcons are flying higher than ever. The Falcons’ last three games have been
near losses, but Atlanta is now 7-0 and faces a relatively easy schedule ahead.
That spells trap, and I won’t hop on any undefeated bandwagons, but this is a
team that could represent a stacked NFC in the Super Bowl, if they can put
their postseason woes behind them.
1. American
Football Conference
