Bruno Boys Fantasy Football

Trick or Treat! Yes, folks the words spoken by children everywhere that are celebrating Halloween, hold relevance in the world of fantasy football. Essentially, each week, when setting our line-ups we try to avoid those “Tricks” (players that are due for a bad week) and plug in those “Treats” (players that that are set to go off). In the scope of helping you do just that, the Bruno Boys proudly present the Fantasy Football Week 8 Sit Ems.

QUARTERBACKS – SIT ‘EM

Joe Flacco (Baltimore Ravens) vs. Denver

Flacco is posting a stellar sophomore season, racking up 1,674 passing yards and 11 TDs with just 5 INTs through six games. In fact, Flacco’s play is a large reason why the Ravens have been able to remain competitive this season despite the slow demise of their defense. In addition, he’s coming off a bye week, which means he and his supporting cast should be fresh. So, why are we down on a rock solid QB coming off the bye week? Simple, while Flacco has played himself into QB1 discussions for fantasy purposes, he’s not quite at the must play level, which means when a bad match-up presents itself, it’s best to avoid. This week Flacco and the Ravens host the Denver Broncos, a team that’s giving up just 6.5 fantasy points per game to opposing QBs. Yes, they did allow double digit fantasy points to the QB position in week 5 and week 6, but their opponents those two weeks were Tom Brady and the New England Patriots and Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers, and while both put up double digits, their point totals were just 14 and 12 respectively. If the Broncos can keep those two under wraps, they will do the same to Flacco.

Marc Bulger (St. Louis Rams) @ Detroit

While we’re advising you to avoid Flacco due to the match-up, that’s not the reason we suggest leaving Bulger on your bench. In fact, to many fantasy owners that own the likes of Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, or Carson Palmer, Bulger’s match-up has them thinking bye week fill in. But, we’re going to advise against that. Yes, Bulger does face a Detroit Lions’ secondary that is allowing opposing QBs to go for 21.5 fantasy points per game, the second most in the league, but the quarterback’s days of being a fantasy option are in the past. Bulger has posted just one double digit outing this season in the six games he has played in, and he just made it to the double digit plateau in that one with 10 fantasy points. The name and match-up could fool owners into using him, but the good news is since you’ve read this, you won’t be one of those poor owners cursing his name come Monday.

Eli Manning (New York Giants) @ Philadelphia

Manning started out the season with 8 TD passes and 64 fantasy football points over the first four games but since a Week 4 showing in which he had 3 TDs and 19 fantasy points he has been mediocre at best. Over the last two games, against tougher competition, Manning has completed just 48.5 percent of his passes and has started to get turnover happy, having thrown 4 INTs to just 2 TD passes. With the New York Giants taking on a Philadelphia Eagles in a crucial divisional game you would think Manning should play at a high level. However, if you combine his recent struggles with the fact that the Eagles’ pass defense allows just 190 passing yards per contest and is averaging 2 INTs per game you have yourself a risky Week 8 play. The icing on the cake, Manning has failed to throw for 200 passing yards in four of his last 5 contests against the Eagles and he has at least 1 INT in three of those games.

RUNNING BACKS - SIT ’ EM

Ryan Grant (Green Bay Packers) vs. Minnesota

Grant is coming off his best outing of the season as he ran for 148 yards and a score in week 7 against the Cleveland Browns. Luckily for Grant’s owners, he took advantage of that match-up because this week 8 one is not appealing. Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau means the Minnesota Vikings are in town, a rush defense that is giving up just 95.4 rushing yards per contest and that has allowed just 2 rushing TDs on the year. Grant did amass 10 fantasy points against the Vikings when these two teams met in week 4, but he was saved that week by the 5 points he gained as a receiver due to 50 receiving yards. We don’t expect Grant to be such a big part of the team’s passing plans in this one, which means he could very well end the day in the 4-7 fantasy point range if he fails to find pay dirt.

Knowshon Moreno (Denver Broncos) @ Baltimore

While it is true the Baltimore Raven’s defense is struggling in 2009 as mentioned in Joe Flacco’s write-up above, those struggles are due to their inability to stop the pass. The Ravens rank 7th in the league in rush defense, giving up just 91.2 rushing yards per game to go with 3 rushing TDs on the season. So, yes, when you see your running back matched up with them, like Moreno’s owners do this week, it’s best to look elsewhere for a RB play. Since Moreno posted back-to-back weeks of double digit fantasy points in weeks 3 and 4, the runner has just 13 fantasy points in two games. His struggles continue in week 8.

Felix Jones (Dallas Cowboys) vs. Seattle

Jones posted some big days prior to suffering an injury earlier this year, so fantasy owners are eager to get the running back back into their line-ups, especially since the larger role Tashard Choice was supposed to see, according to Jerry Jones, didn’t come to fruition. While it is true that Jones is the clear cut No. 2 RB in Dallas behind Marion Barber, it’s not clear whether his explosiveness is back on the field with him following the knee injury. Before using Jones again, we want the RB to post more than one fantasy point as he did in week 7 and prove he is flex option worthy.