Fire and Ice Fantasy Sports Forum | Fantasy Football Week 8 | Browns – Colts

October 20, 2008 By 11 Comments

fantasy football fire and iceWelcome back all to yet another edition of the Fire and Ice Fantasy Sports Forum.

For those of you new to the weekly column, which began last week, I will post several players each week and rate them as being on fire or on ice. My fellow writers at Midwest Sports Fans, and our loyal readers as well, will then chime in with their own thoughts on the selected players. Keep in mind this is evaluated from a fantasy football perspective.

So, who is on fire or on ice for Week 8?

The Cleveland Browns Offense- On Ice. I argued this point last week when my fellow writers called me crazy for giving them the same title last week, and this past weekend against Washington was exactly why. One game does not mean squat. They should have produced the same numbers all year that they put up against the Giants, and did not. Until they prove to me that they can sustain the same high intensity offencleveland brownsse for two to three weeks in a row, they are cold as ICE. What’s funny is the one factor different from the Giants game versus this weekend’s game was the addition of Kellen Winslow. The offense posted better runs with Steve Heiden blocking. Maybe Kellen Winslow should be moved to a slot position and let Heiden help with the run blocking. Just an observation.

The New Orleans Saints Offense- On Fire. Don’t let one bad game fool you, or the loss of Reggie Bush. This offense is still extremely talented as long as Drew Brees is under center. This offense will not look the same as it does when Reggie Bush is playing, but they were successful in his absence last year.

The Baltimore Ravens Defense- On Fire. After getting absolutely torched against the Indianapolis Colts, they put their top ranked “D” back onto the field in a dominating fashion against the Miami Dolphins. That should continue versus the Oakland Raiders and the Cleveland Browns, if the Browns still can’t find their identity by Week 9.

Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger- On Fire. This is a huge understatement; should be “inferno”. Steven Jackson was worth 39 fantasy football points last week and Bulger is looking like the old Bulger again. It’s amazing what firing your head coach can do for your ball club. Since Jim Haslet took over, the Rams are 2-0 with two very impressive wins against the Cowboys and Redskins!

In closing, the Indianapolis Colts are beginning to remind me of the Cleveland Browns offensively. They have indianapolis coltsmore talent than 90% of the NFL on offense and were destroyed this past week. If you have Colts on your team like Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, and Reggie Wayne, you can’t sit them unless you have super studs to cover their starting spot; but what gives? These teams are capable of dropping serious points on their opponents, which means fantasy football victories for their owners, but not last week.

Braylon Edwards catches insane balls thrown to him that he should never catch, but drops wide open perfectly thrown balls? I don’t understand that one. I am also lost as to why Romeo Crennel did not pull Derek Anderson after such a miserable first half for Brady Quinn. I find it very hard to believe that Brady Quinn would produce the same miserable numbers which D.A. posted in the first half of the Redskins game. That was as ignorant as Red Sox Manager Terry Francona leaving Jon Lester in the game while he was getting throttled in the fifth inning. Both ended with the same result: a loss.

Look for specific insight into the upcoming NFL week on Thursday in the Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus here at www.midwestsportsfans.com

Kurt Fraschetti

[tags]sports forum, fantasy football, reggie bush, cleveland browns, st. louis rams[/tags]

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Filed Under: Fantasy Football Tagged With: Baltimore Ravens, brady quinn, braylon edwards, Cleveland Browns, derek anderson, Drew Brees, fantasy football week 8, Marc Bulger, marvin harrison, NFL, peyton manning, reggie bush, Reggie Wayne, Steven Jackson
  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    As much as I would like to spray you with a hose hooked up to the nozzle connected to the spring of eternal hope from which I usually draw my Browns opinions…I’m just going to leave that one alone. After watching the Browns waste a good defensive effort with 11 measly points, I am out of positivity for this week.

    I will argue you with you on the Saints though. Perhaps it is more a matter of semantics than anything, but I think it’s foolish to say they are on fire when their most dynamic playmaker is out for at least 2-4 weeks. I think they’ll be okay, because Drew Brees is awesome, this past weekend notwithstanding…but they are not as explosive now as they were with Bush. He was the one player on their offense with the ability to take it to the house every time he touched the ball. You cannot remove that element from an offense, whether specifically or as a decoy, and still be as good all-around. I’d rate the Saints O as lukewarm…but definitely not on fire.

    And I can see sitting your Browns — hell I’d like to drop Kellen Winslow and Braylon Edwards right now, though I won’t give into emotion — but sit your Colts? Please. I think the real Colts O is closer to what we saw two weekends ago as opposed to this past weekend against Green Bay. They are struggling to find a consistent rhythm but it’s Peyton, Reggie, and Marvin. I think they’ll be good more often than they’ll be bad. I wish I could say the same about the Browns offensive stars, but they are making it hard to do.

    As for on fire, how about Dominic Rhodes with Addai out? Not sure how long Addai is gone, but don’t you think Rhodes gets more carries ever when Addai gets back? Glad I don’t have Addai this year (oh yeah, I have LT…finally…and he stinks!)

    I’ll submit another player for consideration of ON FIRE: Chris Johnson of the Titans. He’s making me look like a fantasy genius this year, as I took him late in a lot of my leagues. Who would have thought that on the team where I have LT, Chris Johnson, Willie Parker, and Steve Slaton that Johnson and Slaton would be my most consistent scorers.

    What a crazy, ridiculous, random, unbelievably fun and addicting game.

  • Ryan Russell

    Kurt,

    I only called you crazy because you thought that Clevelands Offense week 6 was a fluke and The Colts was not. You were half right, because apparently they were both a fluke.
    From a fantasy standpoint, in my league Derek Anderson outscored Peyton Manning, & Braylon Edwards outscored Reggie Wayne. Both offenses did, however look like ass-garbage. Cleveland’s Defense also outperformed that of the Colts.

    In addition, MSU should have probably been on ICE. They never had a chance.

  • Ryan Russell

    As far as Putting Winslow at slot, I think it would be a bad idea.

    Most of Winslow’s NFL success is is due to being mismatched with linebackers. If we move him to the slot he will be covered (and double covered) by defensive backs, with will drastically reduce him as a threat. What we really need to do if figure out where there staph infections are coming from (Pittsburgh), and get back a healthy Joe Jurevicious.

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    I think Winslow can still have success from the slot, especially near the goalline where his size will prove a mismatch for smaller corners. Regardless, the Browns coaching staff needs to get more creative. Why not put Winslow in the slot and get Heiden on the field at the same time? Who has to sit out — Syndric Steptoe? The Browns coaches, in my opinion, have done a subpar job at times of getting the ball into the playmakers hands. Granted, this may be as much DA’s fault as the coaches.

    What I really want to see is more touches for Jerome Harrison: draws, screen passes, and even a series or two to spell Jamal Lewis. And we need to pound the ball. I never feel like Jamal can really pound away at the offense because the coaches are convinced that we are a passing team. If DA is going 4-16, and Braylon is going to drop everything, then get more creative with Jamal, Jerome, and Jason Wright in the backfield.

  • http://profootballinsight.webs.com fraschetti

    JRod,

    I couldn’t agree with you more regarding Chris Johnson and the Titans backfield, they are so on fire FDNY could not put them out. I was saving that for this weeks fantasy focus as your stealing my thunder. You are also right about the game being crazy, it definately is. I would like to take this time to gloat a bit about my advise to start your Patriots this week. Sammy Morris and Matt Cassell carried my team through a 38 point deficit going into the Monday Night game and produced a win for me. It’s just sad to see Morris leave after the half. When the Pats were up he could have piled on 200 to 250 yards of offense himself. Congrats to the Pats offense for pulling a Cleveland for a week and removing their heads from their arse!

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    How schizophrenic are the Broncos and Patriots? Good lord. Bill Simmons was right in his latest column on ESPN.com…this is the craziest NFL season ever. Although I do think it was only a matter of time before the Patriots had an offensive explosion, and the Denver defense is definitely the team to do it against. What happened to Champ Bailey? I thought he was supposed to be the best “shutdown” corner in the NFL. Or is the rest of his D just that bad that it doesn’t matter how good he is?

    I can’t wait for the playoffs this year already…just to see who actually makes it. Save for the Bengals and Chiefs, pretty much everyone is still legitimately alive.

    Kurt, here’s a question for you, and feel free to save it for the fantasy column later this week: If you could only have one for the rest of the season, who are you taking, Chris Johnson or LenDale White?

  • http://profootballinsight.webs.com fraschetti

    JRod,

    That is by far the hardest fantasy question I have had year to date. Chris Johnson gets more carries and has more yardage. White has 2 1/2 times as many touchdowns and a longer touchdown run of 80 yards, versus Johnson’s 66 yard run. I will say this, without one, the other will tremendously suffer. These two together appear to be the perfect compliment to each other. They took what the Jags did last year with Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew and perfected it. Usually only one of those two had stellar games, but the Titans are doing it week in and week out. Only because of injuries with White, and the Titans lack of committment to White in the past, I would choose Johnson, but I believe they both need each other to continue thier domination. I can’t wait to see what a devastating run defense can do to these two. Without them, I do not think that Kerry Collins can carry this team with an arial assault.

  • KVB

    I’m giving up on the Dallas Defense on my fantasy squad. I like to have two teams on my team every week to choose the best match up between the two. I have the Patriots now and am think I should replace the Cowboys with the Eagles D. What do you think? thx

  • http://www.midwestsportsfans.com JRod

    Seriously…the Cowboys D was supposed to be awesome this year, and they’ve sucked goat tits (for you Ryan Russell).

    I got the Titans D in one league…which is nice. Set it and forget it.

    What are some of the “under the radar” defenses (like Cleveland, perhaps…who thought we’d say that!) that have good matchups for the upcoming weeks?

  • http://profootballinsight.webs.com fraschetti

    KVB,

    I know the Cowboys D has been a real disappointment, but the team is full of playmakers. Demarcus Ware is a sack machine, sooner or later those sacks will result in turnovers and possible defensive scores. They are just giving up too many points and big plays, which is killing them. Their special teams have not been special, and the loss of Adam Jones just destroyed them in that department. I view the Eagles D in the same light as the Cowboys, but I don’t think that they will week in and week out serve up the points that the Cowboys D has, plus the Eagles Offense will do a better job of securing the ball, giving their defense some time to rest in between series. They both play in a brutal division. It sounds like you only need a reserve defense if the Pats offense can continue to click. The Pats D is designed to play while sustaining a lead, not the other way around. If the Patriots are ahead, they are a great fantasy D, if the roles are reversed, they could really cost you. What other options are available?

  • http://profootballinsight.webs.com fraschetti

    JRod,

    It would be helpful if you could let me know what is available in the league that you are searching for a “D”. I could give you a list, but chances are they are not available for you. Let me know what your deciding on and I will help you as best I can.