The Fantasy Factor

I hate to use this as a vehicle for saying something stupid like "Now fantasy football has finally arrived!" because, let's be honest, fantasy football is probably more popular than real hockey at this point. But you have to admit, this story is pretty cool.

Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew was lauded for making a heads up play on Sunday by taking a dive to let the clock run out instead of scoring a meaningless touchdown. Teammates, coaches, announcers...they were all singing Jones-Drew's praises. But what about fantasy owners? Shades of Brian Westbrook, eh? I can only imagine MJD owners who lost by a few points this week can't be happy.

Jones-Drew, of course, foresaw all of this this. So after the game, he issued an apology to his fantasy owners.

"Sorry to my fantasy owners," Jones-Drew deadpanned. "I apologize. I had myself today. It was a tough call, but whatever it takes to get the victory, that's what counts."

What a fantastic quote. I have MJD in my biggest league, and I couldn't be happier with him. I did win by double-digits this week, though. Maybe I wouldn't be so kind if he screwed me over.

1) RB Chris Johnson - Titans
Vs. Bills

It appears we have a bit of a misunderstanding here. As I explained a few weeks ago, that "Running backs to like" feature isn't a "sit or start" thing, more of an "expect this dude to go ballistic" thing. And, how 'bout it, Johnson did indeed go crazy on Sunday.

132 yards rushing, 100 yards receiving, two touchdowns. Not surprising but surely impressive. If these numbers hold up, we're going to have a hell of a debate on our hands for the 2010 No. 1 overall pick between Johnson and Adrian Peterson.

1) Chris Johnson - Titans
Vs. Bills

"Man crush" is such a terrible term, isn't it? As such, I need to find another way to describe my love for Chris Johnson, so let's just go with "I think he's the coolest running back in the NFL". Is that good?

Johnson has been a tear lately, and this will only continue at home against Buffalo on Sunday. The Bills can't stop the run. By that I mean, they are the worst team in the league at this particular aspect of football. Buffalo gives up 173 yards per game on the ground. Johnson averages 120 yards per game.

I smell lots and lots of yards, and a touchdown or two.

1) Kurt Warner -- Cardinals
Vs. Bears

Not that I need to repeat these numbers to you, Chicago, but just for fun, let's take another look at at just how bad Warner torched the Bears on Sunday: 260 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions. Feel free to start playing defense whenever, Bears.

Warner's big day now places him in a tie for third for touchdown passes with 16. He hasn't been as good as last year, but Warner is still more than an adequate fantasy quarterback. Expect his numbers to continue to go up as receiver Anquan Boldin should be ready to return to the Arizona lineup.

The breakout fantasy star of Week 8? It's got to be Houston running back Ryan Moats, who took advantage of Steve Slaton's incurable case of fumble-itis to rescue the Texans in Buffalo. Moats' final line was shocking: 126 yards, three touchdowns. Not bad for a five year veteran with just one 100 yard day in his entire career.

So now everyone should rush to their computer and pick up Moats, right? Well, not exactly.

First, consider the opponent: the Bills are woeful at stopping the run. This week's enemy, the Colts, are just a tad bit better than Dick Jauron's bunch.

It's not like the Texans have committed to Moats, either. Coach Gary Kubiak seems set to deploy a running back carousel including Moats, Slaton, and local product Chris Brown.

All of this is to say don't expect Ryan Moats to score two more touchdowns again this week. With a bye week coming after the Colts game, Moats probably isn't worth your time.

1) RB Chris Johnson -- Titans
Vs. Jags

Vince Young will probably grab the headlines in Nashville, but he maybe had 1 percent as much to do with the Titans' first victory of the season as his running back did. We throw around the "he's like a video game player!" tag too much these days, but really, Chris Johnson is awesome. Dude may be the fastest running back I've ever seen.

Did you see his highlights from Sunday? If not, check them out after the jump. The clips are even more impressive than the numbers, and the numbers (228 yards rushing, two touchdowns) were about as good as anything we've seen this year.

Fantasy bust of the season? Matt Forte, no doubt about it. Of course, since I'm writing this entry from Chicago, this news doesn't come as a surprise to anyone. Forte's struggles have been just as frustrating to fantasy owners as they have been to Bears fans. The Bears were expecting their second-year back to turn into one of the best runners in the league. Fantasy owners were counting on the same thing. Forte was a consensus top five pick in most fantasy leagues. Those owners can't be happy now.

There are many reasons for this, of course. The Bears are throwing more - and, as a Bears fan, I contend it's still not enough. The offensive line is also putrid. Forte is getting less chances, and they're worse chances. It doesn't look he'll break out of this funk any time soon.

Besides for this week, that is. The Cleveland Browns are the vaccine that cures all.

The Browns will enter Sunday as the second worst unit in the league when it comes to defending the run. Backs are averaging 4.9 yards per carry against them, to the tune of over 170 yards per game.

You may remember that it hasn't been all bad for Forte this season. He was actually quite good against the cringe-worthy Lions in Week Four, rushing for 121 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries. The Lions are currently the 13th worst team against the run. Again, Cleveland is the second worst.

So, yeah: start Matt Forte on Sunday, and watch him (probably) run wild. At this point, he owes you.