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14. Matt Hasselbeck (Tennessee Titans) vs. Indianapolis  **PROBABLE - EXPECTED TO START ON SUNDAY**

Through five games prior to his bye, Matt Hasselbeck was averaging a commendable 283 yards with 1.8 touchdowns and less than one interception per game. He looked like a very solid bye week option against a struggling Houston pass defense, but he completed just 14 of 30 passes for 104 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Indianapolis’ pass defense has shown some cracks—er, craters—in recent weeks. Matt Cassel threw for four touchdowns against the Colts in Week 5, and last week Drew Brees threw for 325 yards and five touchdowns. Hasselbeck’s recent clunker is certainly discouraging, but don’t discount a solid bounce-back in Week 8.
Point Projection: 14 points

15. John Beck (Washington Redskins) @ Buffalo

It was his first start in four seasons, but John Beck was surprisingly useful in Carolina, throwing for 279 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and adding a rushing score for the second consecutive week. He’ll look to build upon the encouraging performance this week against the Bills’ No. 30 fantasy pass defense. Buffalo’s giving up 289 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions per game, so Beck could be a sneaky desperation play in deeper leagues.
Point Projection: 13 points

16. Matt Cassel (Kansas City Chiefs) vs. San Diego

Coming off a four-touchdown outburst against the Colts, Matt Cassel probably played his way back to the waiver wire with a 161-yard, two-interception debacle against the hapless Raiders. He’s thrown multiple touchdowns just twice in six games, so he simply can’t be trusted in anything short of two-quarterback leagues. San Diego’s top 10 fantasy pass defense is giving up 186 passing yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game, and in their first meeting Cassel went for 176 yards with two scores and an interception. While the numbers suggest a similar box score, this isn’t exactly a matchup to exploit.
Point Projection: 12 points

17. Christian Ponder (Minnesota Vikings) @ Carolina

“Earth to fantasyland—we’re reporting signs of life in Minnesota.” While it came several weeks too late, but Christian Ponder’s debut couldn’t have been much more encouraging. He made his fair share of rookie mistakes, but he also piloted the Vikings to a near-upset of the reigning champion Packers. Ponder threw for 219 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions, and he tacked on another 31 yards on the ground. He couldn’t be rattled despite the magnitude of his situation, and All-World back Adrian Peterson ensures that defenses will never be able to tee off on the rookie. Ponder will go toe-to-toe with fellow first-year signal caller Cam Newton this week in Carolina, against a beatable Carolina pass defense that’s also surrendered a rushing score in consecutive games. Ponder has a chance to be helpful, particularly with his legs, in two-quarterback leagues.
Point Projection: 12 points

18. Colt McCoy (Cleveland Browns) @ San Francisco

Prior to last week, Colt McCoy had been a consistently solid fantasy producer. Sadly, his first stinker of the season (178 yards and one interception) came in a heavy bye week, resulting in heavy usage (and frustration) across fantasyland. San Francisco’s given up big games to Tony Romo and Michael Vick, but they’ve completely shut out McCoy-like quarterbacks Andy Dalton and Josh Freeman. There’s very limited upside here.
Point Projection: 12 points

19. Alex Smith (San Francisco 49ers) vs. Cleveland

Alex Smith hasn’t cracked 300 yards in his past 12 games, and he’s averaging just 182 yards per game this season. Because of low yardage totals, his fantasy value is contingent on touchdowns, and that production has been impossible to peg. Smith’s thrown multiple touchdown passes in three games, and totaled just one touchdown pass in his other three. It doesn’t make any sense, but Cleveland is the No. 2 fantasy pass defense, nestled between the Jets and the Steelers. The Browns are allowing just 181 yards, 1.2 touchdowns and .7 interceptions to opposing signal callers, so this feels like a tailor-made, 200-and-one kind of game for Smith.
Point Projection: 12 points

20. Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals) @ Seattle

Through his first six games, rookie Andy Dalton accounted for multiple touchdowns in half of his games, and averaged a respectable 219 passing yards per contest. The Seahawks surrendered 420 yards and three scores to Eli Manning in Week 5, but outside of that hiccup they’ve allowed three passing touchdowns in five games, and no quarterback has reached 200 yards. Last week Colt McCoy, who’s comparable to Dalton, managed just 178 yards and an interception, so steer clear of this one.
Point Projection: 11 points

21. Kevin Kolb (Arizona Cardinals) @ Baltimore

Kevin Kolb had thrown one touchdown and five interceptions in his previous three games against a middling slate of opponents, so there was absolutely no reason to let him anywhere your lineups last week against the Steelers. His 272 passing yards, two touchdowns and just one interception look like a positive sign on the surface, but we’ll need to see it again before trusting him. A successful trip to Baltimore against the Ravens’ No. 5 fantasy pass defense would go a long way in further establishing said trust. However, the odds of this matchup developing into anything more than another lackluster performance by Kolb are slim and therefore Kolb shold be on your bench.
Point Projection: 11 points

22. Curtis Painter (Indianapolis Colts) @ Tennessee

After two consecutive games of over 270 passing yards and two scores, Curtis Painter’s combined for 255 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in his last two outings. He’s put enough action on tape to give opposing defenses (and prospective fantasy owners) everything they need to know. While Tennessee’s allowed a combined seven touchdowns to Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Schaub in their last two games, it’s virtually impossible to recommend Painter at this point.
Point Projection: 10 points

23. Tarvaris Jackson / Charlie Whitehurst (Seattle Seahawks) vs. Cincinnati  **

Earlier in the week it looked like Jackson would return from injury in Week 8, however on Friday Charlie Whitehurst practiced with the first team and it’s officially a mystery as to who will start in Seattle. In the four games that Jackson’s started and finished, he’s averaged 211.5 passing yards, 15 rushing yards, 1.5 touchdowns and an interception per contest. Cincinnati’s No. 4 fantasy pass defense hasn’t allowed multiple touchdowns or 225 passing yards in four consecutive weeks, so there’s far too many red flags to roll the dice with the ailing Jackson if you have other options. 
b>Point Projection: 9 points

24. A.J. Feeley (St. Louis Rams) vs. New Orleans

TWIth the injury to Sam Bradford, veteran signal caller A.J. Feeley will get his second consecutive start this week. He was predictably lousy against Dallas, throwing for 196 scoreless yards and an interception. Brandon Lloyd looks to have finally given St. Louis a legitimate target, which is the good news. New Orleans is an average fantasy pass defense, but regardless, this is a situation to be avoided.
Point Projection: 9 points

25. Matt Moore (Miami Dolphins) @ New York Giants

Matt Moore has now faced both ends of the spectrum with the No. 1 (Jets) and the No. 31 (Broncos) fantasy pass defenses. He’s averaged 201 yards, an interception and half a touchdown. The Giants are a very average fantasy pass defense, so this matchup essentially writes itself. If 200 yards, an interception and a 50-50 shot at a score can help you, then feel free to deploy Moore in two-quarterback leagues.
Point Projection: 8 points

26. Blaine Gabbert (Jacksonville Jaguars) @  Houston

With Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, and now Christian Ponder showing tangible signs of promise, fellow rookie Blaine Gabbert has to be feeling left out. He’s topped 200 yards once in five starts, and has yet to throw multiple touchdowns in a game. Houston’s fantasy pass defense ranks in the top third of the league against opposing quarterbacks, and they just held Matt Hasselbeck to 104 yards, so there’s no reason to expect anything useful out of Gabbert here. 
Point Projection: 7 points

BYE WEEK QUARTERBACKS

Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers

Aaron Rodgers is on pace for 5,422 passing yards, 46 touchdowns, seven interceptions, 171 rushing yards and five rushing scores. He’s the first quarterback in NFL history to post a quarterback rating of at least 110 in his first seven games. In short, we’re witnessing what very well could be the best stretch of quarterbacking ever. That is all.

Matt Ryan, Atlanta Falcons

There’s no point in sugar coating it: Matt Ryan is a fantasy bust. Expected to ascend to the top tier of fantasy signal callers this season, he’s thrown multiple touchdowns just once in seven games, and he’s failed to top 225 passing yards in each of his last three. His fantasy production has been artificially aided by fluky goal-line sneaks in each of his past two games, but that obviously won’t continue. To make matters worse, Ryan’s now dealing with an ankle injury. There’s nothing positive to report here.

Jay Cutler, Chicago Bears

Jay Cutler continues to be one of fantasy’s most enigmatic signal callers, due in large part to what might be the league’s worst collection of pass catchers. He’s averaging 243 passing yards, 1.3 touchdowns and .9 interceptions. That kind of production puts Cutler in the range of a high-end QB2 who’s startable with the right matchup.

Carson Palmer, Oakland Raiders

New Raider Carson Palmer got his first action of the season in relief of Kyle Boller, and he promptly drilled a touchdown pass… do Chiefs’ cornerback Brandon Flowers. Palmer heads into his bye after completing just 8 of 21 passes for 116 yards and three interceptions. Sadly, his performance was so bad that fantasy owners won’t be able to trust him in an incredibly favorable Week 9 meeting with the Broncos.

Mark Sanchez, New York Jets

Despite wildly erratic yardage totals, Mark Sanchez has accounted for multiple touchdowns in six of seven games this season, which puts him in the neighborhood of a low-end fantasy QB1 into his bye. Sanchez has also shown the ability to chip in with is legs, topping 20 rushing yards for an added two-point bonus on two separate occasions. Sanchez has only posted one clunker on the season, and is probably best utilized as a matchup play in a platoon.

Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In a matter of about a month, Josh Freeman has gone from one of the most predictable, steady fantasy quarterbacks to a complete crapshoot. After locking into a 250-yard, 1.5-touchdown groove for the better part of two seasons, Freeman’s been all over the board in the last three weeks, going for 187/0/2, 303/2/0 and 264/2/4 into his bye. Look for things to stabilize when LeGarrette Blount returns to the lineup.

Week 8 Rankings:  QB  |  RB  |  WR |  TE |  K |  DEF   (click to read)

Week 8 Start & Sit:  START ‘EM  |  SIT ‘EM  (click to read)

Week 8 Waiver Wire:  PICK THEM UP  |  CUT THEM LOOSE  (click to read)

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