(And remember to check back this Thursday for the Week 10 Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus for that late playoff push.)

On with the show:

ON FIRE…. Any team Defense that is playing the Oakland Raiders. You can count on that Defense, unless of course it is the Cleveland Browns D, who plays to the level, or lack thereof, of their opponent. Oakland is pathetic at best, and most high school teams could play them and chalk up a “W”.

Tim Hightower, RB-Cardinals ON FIRE. He was my sleeper when I started my posts this year, and has done nothing but continue to gain confidence and carries each week. Remember, Tim Hightower is a rookie, was a 5th round draft pick, and just stole Edgerrin James’ starting job. No, better yet, he ran away with it, literally. Hightower posted a 1 Touchdown, 109-yard day on 22 carries yesterday. Remember, Edgerrin James only had 3 100+ yard games in all of 2007 and it doesn’t look like he will get any in 2008.

Kurt Warner, QB-Cardinals ON FIRE. Everyone had written this guy off years ago. The 37-year old landed in Arizona to serve in the back up role for Matt Leinart. It has not quite gone that way. Kurt Warner again beat out the former first round pick in the pre-season and has not looked back. Warner has a 104.2 QB rating with 2,431 yards and 16 touchdowns. Warner is having an MVP-like season. The Cardinals offense looks fantastic and Kurt Warner is the biggest reason why.

Chris Johnson, RB-Titans ON FIRE. As of late, I had advised everyone to start both Titans running backs, even if you have them both on your team. I still stand by that, as Tennessee stands by being committed to the run. This past week however, Chris Johnson took a step out in front of his partner in crime, LenDale White. Johnson had 24 carries to White’s 8. This 3:1 ratio of carries continued even though White broke off a 54 yard scamper. Both are quality starts, and I still recommend having both on my team, but I was asked before by one of my readers which one I would rather have, and my answer was then and still is Chris Johnson.

Bill Cowher, Former HC now Football Analyst. ON FIRE. Ok, this is a pipe dream for me, but I can hardly stomach another horribly coached Browns game where they give up an enormous lead to a pitiful offense. Romeo is a nice guy and all, but I want FIRE on the Cleveland Browns sideline. Who better to get the Browns over the landslide of losses to the Steelers then the Chin. Remember, the Chin has Cleveland ties, and I don’t remember EVER seeing Pittsburgh blow two touchdown leads. This Browns team is a playoff-caliber team, just like last year; and just like last year, the Browns will not make the playoffs again. I will make this prediction though: this team will win against the Titans if they are still undefeated when they play them. I say this just because the Browns play to the level of their opponents. Oh yeah, it would be an added bonus if Kellen Winslow didn’t play that game. Remember, Browns are 2-0 without Winslow with wins over the at-that-time undefeated Giants, and the Jaguars.

ON ICE… Any player on the following teams, including team defenses, due to their poor offensive play. The Cowboys, Raiders, Seahawks, Rams, and if no Orton, the Bears as well. You can remove a few teams from this list when Steven Jackson and Tony Romo return. The rest appear to be screwed for the duration.

I am not ready to give the Bengals any classification yet, but you have to admit that Cedric Benson looked impressive against the Jags, and Ryan Fitzpatrick is starting to look more like the Fitzpatrick who produced in St. Louis. With Benson’s performance on Sunday, this shows you how horrible the Bears offense will become if Rex Grossman has to continue to take snaps.

Please check back in on Thursday for this week’s fantasy football focus.

By the way, props to ESPN and it’s fantasy “guru” Eric Karabell (right) for his advice on starting Justin Fargas over Matt Ryan at the offensive flex position. It was in a live chat, so I can’t link out to it to properly take him to task. But I am definitely glad I didn’t listen.

Kurt Fraschetti

profootballinsight@live.com

To opt-in for email updates regarding Fantasy Football content, or general updates from Midwest Sports Fans, please use the form below. Your updates will begin immediately:

[tags]fantasy football, nfl, sports forum[/tags]

***Breaking News***

Tony Romo — DONE. Tony Romo is out four weeks with a broken pinky finger. Grab Brad Johnson, who will fill in for Tony Romo, if you can for several reasons. Brad will produce numbers, not Tony Romo numbers, but numbers none the less. The run game that Dallas will now have to rely upon without Tony Romo will open up the pass game. Not deep balls, but consistent numbers, and passes to two very talented backs who can break a two yard pass for an enormous touchdown.

I expect Brad Johnson to average a little over 200 yards passing with 2 touchdowns and a pick or two a game. If you don’t need him, pick him up to screw Tony Romo owners or other teams weak at the QB Position. Johnson could provide a decent return in a trade.

Now onto the Fantasy Football Week 6 Recap:

For those of you who followed my Fantasy Football Sleeper advice when in a bind last week, you should be enjoying your decisions. The closing to my predictions and analysis was gospel, “Avoid Patriots At All Costs!” If you were like me and forced to start Sammy Morris, you were not too disappointed as he found the end zone finishing with 12 points. But any other Patriot left you with next to no points. Sorry, you should have listened.

I called three sleepers out to you for Week 6, those being Deuce McAllister, Tim Hightower and John Carlson. They performed as follows;

Deuce McAllister- 13 carries equaling 65 yards with 2 receptions for seven yards totaling 6 points. Deuce McAllister could have had far greater results but was not given many goal line attempts, hence Reggie Bush’s rushing touchdown. He did however spit carries with Bush, and saw a few passes out the the backfield. The opportunity for success was there, he just didn’t cash in. Overall Grade: C

Tim Hightower- 7 carries, 20 yards with 4 receptions totaling 29 yards equalling 4 points. If Larry Fitzgerald does not come down with that unbelievable touchdown in the red zone, Tim Hightower could have ended up with his staple 1 touchdown per game. Obviously Arizona felt they had a better chance to pass on Dallas’s D versus run into it. Tim Hightower had just two less carries than Edgerrin James, and was the third leading receiver for Arizona. He too had chances to post good numbers. Overall Grade: C-

John Carlson- Carlson was Seattle’s only source of offense on Sunday with 4 grabs for 22 yards and a touchdown, posting 8 points. With a real quarterback, Carlson’s numbers would have been even better. Carlson outscored Ben Watson, Donald Lee, Vernon Davis, L.J. Smith, Jason Witten, Leonard Pope, Daniel Graham, Chris Baker, Ben Utech, Bubba Franks, Dallas Clark, Zach Miller, Todd Heap, Visanthe Shiancoe, Chris Cooley, Owen Daniels, Anthony Fasano, Greg Olson and many others. He only lost to Antonio Gates by a point. If you listened, this was genius,. Overall Grade: A++

Submit your questions to me via email at profootballinsight before Thursday morning and I will post your answers in this week’s Fantasy Football Sleeper Focus Week 7 article. By the way, ProFootballInsight’s game of the week hit for the third week in a row, with the Colts destroying the spread against the Ravens. Contact us for all your football needs.

Kurt Fraschetti / www.profootballinsight.webs.com / profootballinsight@live.com

[tags]fantasy football, nfl, sleepers, tony romo[/tags]