Welcome to our Week 8 Beast, Busts and Sleepers. In this feature we try to dig deep and look beyond the obvious. We look for players that may produce over their heads as our Beasts. We look for players who may underachieve as our Busts. We look for players who could surprise as our Sleepers.

THE CRITERIA

QB: 20 FP or more = Beast
RB/WR: 15 FP or more = Beast
TE/PK/DST: 10 FP or more = Beast

RECORD BY CATEGORY

Beasts: 37-28
Busts: 37-28
Sleepers: 17-36

Let’s take a look at Week 8!

THE BEASTS
Beyond the obvious

QB: Jay Cutler CHI at CLE - Cutler bounces back at home. Browns allow 25.6 points a game.

QB: David Garrard JAC at TEN - The Titans are allowing 31.8 FP per game to the opposing QB.

RB: Kevin Smith DET vs STL - Doesn’t matter who plays QB, the Lions will lean heavily on Smith.

RB: Steve Slaton HOU at BUF - Bills are giving up 172 rushing yards per game, Texans run all day.

WR: Brandon Marshall DEN at BAL - Ravens don’t match-up well against big, physical wide receivers.

WR: Mike Sims-Walker JAC at TEN - Expect him to exceed the 91 yards (2 TD) he put up in Week 4.

TE: Jeremy Shockey NO vs ATL - Falcons rank 29th in defending against the oppositions TE.

PK: Nate Keading SD vs OAK - Chargers will pile up the points at home against the Raiders.

DST: Cardinals vs Panthers - Cardinals DST is rounding into form and Delhomme is up next.

THE BUSTS
Studs to Duds

QB: Alex Smith SF at IND - Tough spot for Smith to get his first start in almost two years.

QB: Brett Favre MIN at GB - Packers won’t allow a repeat of the Week 4 game in Minnesota.

RB: Marion Barber DAL vs SEA - Three healthy RB in Dallas hurts them all in Fantasy Football.

RB: Knowson Moreno DEN at BAL - Moreno is sharing touches and the Ravens have allowed 3 rushing TD.

WR: Steve Smith NYG vs. PHI - The Eagles will blitz Manning and the NY passing game will struggle.

WR: Derrick Mason BAL vs DEN - Broncos pass defense is allowing just 13.9 FP per game to receivers.

TE: Vernon Davis SF at IND - Davis goes from Stud to Dud against Colts top ranked TE defense.

PK: John Carney NO vs ATL - Carney may lose his starting job to Garrett Hartley any day now.

DST: Bills vs. Texans - The highflying Texans come to town; Bills DST comes back to earth.

SLEEPERS:
Underachievers with a chance to shine

QB: Marc Bulger STL at DET - Lions have given up 17 passing touchdowns in six games.

RB: Marshawn Lynch BUF vs HOU - Bills need to run to keep Texans high-octane offense of the field.

RB: Joseph Addai IND vs SF - Addai will get the bulk of the carries with RB Brown questionable.

WR: Donnie Avery STL at DET - No defense for either team, lots of points in this one.

WR: Nate Burleson SEA at DAL - Dallas will key on Houshmandzadah so Burleson will burn them.

TE: Donald Lee GB vs. MIN - Packers TE Finely is out, Vikings struggle against the TE position.

PK: Jason Hanson DET vs STL - Lions will be able to move the ball; lots of chance for Hanson.

DST: Chargers vs Raiders - The Chargers have a shot at a shutout in this one.

FANTASY FACTS:

Giants QB Elli Manning averaged 19.8 FP against five teams that have a combined 9-24 record. In the last two weeks, against teams with a 10-2 record, his average is 10.2 FP. His main WR Steve Smith has fallen from 21.8 FP to 9.6 FP over the same time period.

Texans QB Matt Schuab passed for 15 TD in 12 games in 2008. In seven games in 2009 he has 16 TD passes. Tom Brady leads the league with 166.2 FP. Schaub is second with 165.4 FP. Drew Brees leads the league in FP per game at 25 FP PG.

RB Adrian Peterson and Maurice Jones-Drew both have eight rushing TD in 2009 to lead all running backs. Peterson had 10 rushing TD in 2008 while Jones-Drew had 12.

Steve Slaton (2) Steven Jackson (0) Brian Westbrook (1) Matt Forte (1) Brandon Jacobs (2) LaDainian Tomlinson (1) and Clinton Portis (1) have a combined eight rushing TD. In 2008 they combined for 33 rushing TD through the first seven weeks.

Bengals WR Chad Ochocinco had 131 FP points in 2008 with 4 TD and 540 receiving yards. In 2009 he has 127.1 FP with 5 TD and 573 receiving yards through seven games.

Dallas WR Miles Austin has scored 82.1 FP in his last two games. In his previous 43 games Austin had scored 90.5 total FP. QB Tom Brady, with 68.9 FP, has the next highest consecutive game FP total in 2009.

In the first half of his Week 7 game against the Texans, SF TE Vernon Davis had one catch for six yards with QB Shaun Hill under center. In the second half, with QB Alex Smith under center, Davis had 6 catches for 87 yards and three TD. Davis finished with 34.3 FP.

The Saints and Steelers combined for four TD on defense and they both scored 20 FP in Week 7. The Raiders, Bears, Bucs, Rams, Chiefs, and Browns managed just four total team TD and a combined 5 DST FP.

The Saints, Colts and Broncos are all undefeated and have scored a combined 2246.5 FP in 18 games played. The Rams, Titans and Bucs still haven’t won a game and have scored a combined 1527.8 FP in 20 games played.

The Patriots lead all teams in scoring with 887.3 FP. The Saints are second with 827.9 FP but have played one less game.

The Raiders are the lowest scoring team with 409.6 FP. The Browns are next with 436.5 FP.

FANTASY FACTOR:

The Fantasy Factor was 8-5 in Week 7 bringing our overall record to 70-33. The Excellent bets were a sparkling 6-0. We are still trying for that overall perfect week. Lets see if we can get in Week 8.

A mismatch of Fantasy Beasts versus Fantasy Busts goes a long way to deciding the outcome of NFL games. If you wager on the outcome of games, you need to consider the Fantasy Factor.

B: Bad Bet (11-15): These are not good games to select a winner from based on the Fantasy Factor. You should stay away from these games.

M: Middle Bet (25-11): These are decent games to select a winner from based on the Fantasy Factor. You should still consider all the facts before picking from these games.

E: Excellent Bet (34-7): These are excellent games to select a winner from based on the Fantasy Factor. Load up and enjoy!!!

	B	M	E		B	M	E		B	M	E
Broncos @				Giants @				Texans @			X
Ravens	X			Eagles		X		Bills
	B	M	E		B	M	E		B	M	E
Rams @				Dolphins @		X		49ers @
Lions	X			Jets				Colts			X
	B	M	E		B	M	E		B	M	E
Vikings @	X			Seahawks @				Browns @
Packers				Cowboys		X		Bears			X
					B	M	E		B	M	E
				Jaguars @		X		Raiders @
				Titans				Chargers			X
									B	M	E
								Panthers @
								Cardinals			X
									B	M	E
								Falcons @
								Saints			X

VFFP Crew

Photo Credit: http://www.sortsofsports.com/home/2009/9/7/football-preview-nfc-north.html