My own Fantasy Football watch list

I know Bleacher Report will have its own list up shortly, but I'd like to give mine as well.

Now, I wouldn't start them next week, but I would advise getting them off waivers now and sitting on them for a few weeks to see how they progress and if they achieve starter status.

Chris Ogbonnaya, Cleveland Browns

With Peyton Hillis being a mystery and Modesto Hardesty not quite living up to replacement expectations, I'd watch this kid. That game against Seattle was awful, but he did lead the Browns in receptions. The game in San Francisco wasn't great either, but he did face a harsh Niner run defense. So, he can catch as well as get a few runs in. He may have a little Marshall Faulk potential for the Browns. If I were on the Browns staff, I would highly advise giving Ogbonnaya more playing time to see what he really has. He could be a bust like Ryan Torain. Or he could have a breakout game like DeMarco Murray last week against the Rams.

Curtis Brinkley, San Diego Chargers

When Ryan Mathews went down tonight to a groin injury, Brinkley did an amazing job picking up the slack and had it not been for a Philip Rivers fumble, he would have led to the Charger victory. It appears that Mathews, Tolbert and Brinkley are all banged up as of November 1. I'd monitor all their injuries to determine which back to start, if at all.

Notable mentions:

Veteran tight ends Heath Miller (Steelers) and Brent Celek (Eagles) had been ignored in the past few weeks prior to Week 8. That doesn't seem like the case anymore. Miller played a huge part in the Steelers win over the Patriots. In fact, he lead the team in receiving yards. So, as the Steelers passing game continues to be dangerous, I'm sure Miller will be a growing part of that.

As for Celek, he looked like Chad Ochocinco for half the season...a ghost. However, Dallas tried to take DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin out of the game on Sunday Night, which led to Michael Vick being smart and beating the Cowboys on the inside. Enter Brent Celek, who was able to make vital catches and kept the Eagles onslaught going. Next week, they play the Bears on Monday Night Football. The Bears have given up quite a few fantasy points to tight ends this year. It might be a great opportunity for Celek to once again collect some points, or it could backfire as Vick goes back to Maclin and Jackson. If you're without Brandon Pettigrew or Greg Olsen in Week 9 and have no one else, maybe roll the dice on Celek anyway. I smell an air attack on Chicago and Celek might see some red zone action.

Remember, Week 9, the Panthers, Lions, Jaguars and Vikings are all on their byes.

Which means:

NO Steve Smith, Cam Newton or Greg Olsen

NO Calvin Johnson, Matthew Stafford, Brandon Pettigrew, Jason Hanson or Lions defense.

NO Maurice Jones-Drew or Josh Scobee

NO Christian Ponder, Michael Jenkins, Adrian Peterson or Visanthe Shiancoe

So, adjust your line-ups accordingly!

Don't be mad that the Rams beat the Saints!

I know ESPN and Bleacher and everyone else will drop the Saints in the ranking system and come down on them. But they shouldn't. Nor should fans kiss the Super Bowl dreams goodbye. I had the Saints pegged as a 13-3 season team during my August Analysis and they're still on track for that. Worst case scenario I see would be 11-5.

I believe the Saints can still win the NFC South and maybe even a first round bye. The Packers will most likely win home field throughout the playoffs. San Francisco is the other candidate for the first round bye. Looking at the 49ers schedule, the only real threats I see are games with Baltimore and Pittsburgh, but they could still end up 13-3 as well. Whoever survives with the NFC East title looks like they have an appointment for wild card weekend.

But back to the Saints, don't come down too hard on them.

We can take a look at their past 3 losses.

Green Bay...can't really say much, they played one of the best offenses in the league at Lambeau.

Tampa Bay...Earnest Graham puncturing through their soft run defense and Brees throwing key interceptions. There were questions to why the Saints did not use Sproles, Thomas and Ingram more...look for them to rectify that this coming week against the Bucs.

And St. Louis...again, that weak run defense was hit hard by Steven Jackson. Jackson is a one-man wrecking crew. Add the interceptions by Brees and there is your loss.

The game reminded me of some other upsets.

November 16, 1997

The 8-2 Green Bay Packers took on an 0-10 Indianapolis Colts team at the RCA Dome. The Packers were the defending Super Bowl champions, with Brett Favre in his prime, going up against back-up quarterback Paul Justin. 3 Dorsey Levens touchdowns and one from Antonio Freeman put the Packers up 28-27 at the halftime. But the teamwork of Paul Justin, Marshall Faulk, Marvin Harrison, Ken Dilger and Sean Dawkins kept the Colts in the game. In the 4th quarter, it was tied 38-38 after a Freeman touchdown. The Colts won off of a 20 yard Cary Blanchard field goal, 41-38. It would give the Colts their first win, with 2 more victories to follow. This would also be the last season before the Peyton Manning era.

As for the Green Bay Packers, the Colts loss would be their last. They would power through the Cowboys, Vikings, Buccaneers, Panthers and Bills to finish 13-3.

They would defeat the Buccaneers 21-7 in the divisional round.

The next week at the NFC Championship Game, they would stomp the 49ers 23-10.

And most of us football fanatics know the Packers would lose to John Elway and the Denver Broncos at Super Bowl XXXII 24-31.

There are a few other upset games that come to mind.

December 2, 1985

The 12-0 Chicago Bears met the 8-4 Miami Dolphins in a game that featured Walter Payton and Dan Marino. The Dolphins overpowered the juggernaut Bears for the win, 38-24 in their first and only loss of 1985. The funny thing was, it was almost a Dolphins-Bears Super Bowl, had it not been for a Patriots upset in the AFC Championship. The Bears would destroy the Patriots in that Super Bowl.

November 1, 1998

The 7-0 Minnesota Vikings went into Raymond James Stadium to play a 3-4 Bucs team, which they had beaten earlier 31-7. In their second meeting, the Bucs were able to keep rookie sensation Randy Moss out of the mix and hand the Vikings their first and only loss in the 1998 regular season. The Vikings would play the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC Championship and lose in overtime, 27-30.

December 13, 1998

The 13-0 Denver Broncos played the 5-8 New York Giants. The Broncos retained most of their Super Bowl XXXII team, with John Elway, Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe. It ended as Kent Graham hit Amani Toomer for the game winning touchdown. Giants won 20-16. The Broncos would also lose to the Dolphins in the next week, but end up going 14-2 and defeating the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII.

November 8, 2009

The 4-3 Green Bay Packers played an 0-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneer team, with Josh Freeman in his rookie year. In their ugly Hooters orange uniforms, the Bucs pulled off an upset win, ending with a Will Allen 35 yard interception return for a touchdown, giving the Bucs a 38-28 victory.

The 11-5 Packers would go on to lose in a wild shoot out, 45-51 to the Arizona Cardinals in the wild card round.

December 19, 2009

The 13-0 New Orleans Saints hosted the 8-5 Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys dominated the Saints throughout the game, Drew Brees tried to engineer a comeback, but it was over when he fumbled with 6 seconds left. Cowboys won 24-17. The Saints would drop the last 2 games of the season to the Bucs and Panthers to finish 13-3 with the number 1 seed and would upset the Colts in Super Bowl XLIV 31-17.

I won't count the December 27, 2009 game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts were 14-0 and leading the Jets at half-time, 9-3. Then, Jim Caldwell made the decision to put Peyton Manning out and Curtis Painter in. The crowd viciously disagreed as Painter sputtered and the Jets, with Mark Sanchez, gave the Colts their first loss 29-15. I'm not counting it as a true upset since anytime I see key starters being pulled early is a sign the team is prepared to take a loss to conserve on its players. The Colts, under Painter, would lose the final game at the Bills to finish 14-2. They would go to the Super Bowl and lose to the Saints team that I mentioned above.

So, in closing, the Saints giving the Rams their first win isn't the end of the world. For all we know, this could be the last Saints defeat for 2011. And I made a prediction in August that we would see the Saints and Packers in the NFC Championship and I still believe it's a possibility.

I'm done with Denver receivers and the Washington backfield

The funny thing is, I started Eric Decker in Miami under the belief that the Dolphins weak defense would allow Tim Tebow to hook up with Decker for a few vital plays. And that did not happen. Instead, Tebow appeared to like Demaryius Thomas over Decker.

So, did I buy the 10 target hype and start Thomas?

I actually did not.

And I cut Decker as well.

I did monitor the Denver-Detroit game, and I'm glad I didn't start Thomas. Now Tebow is hitting Decker. I'm starting to realize with Tebow, he may in fact have a Receiver-of-the-Week theme in his playbook. I believe Matt Willis was the leading receiving last week. He goes to Fells and Thomas in the end zone, now it's Decker. Sorry to say, but in fantasy football terms, I miss Kyle Orton. At least there was some form of consistency.

Therefore, I'm not going to play Tebow's game. I'm done with Decker and Thomas and pretty much anyone else in Denver. I only started Tebow in one league because I had no other choice. Somehow, I'm still on the verge of winning that league, no thanks to Tebow. I have him in 2 other leagues and I ended up going with Eli Manning and Philip Rivers over him. We'll see how the latter pans out on Monday Night Football.

As for the Washington backfield, I'm not really sure what to say.

Did the Buffalo run defense finally come alive?

Is Ryan Torain overrated?

Are the Skins in general a bad team?

I can provide my own answers.

Buffalo run defense...quite possibly.

Is Torain overrated? Honestly, his breakout game came against the Rams. The Rams almost make any running back look good. Since then, nothing. Then again, with Shanahan doing the running back-by-committee plan, there really isn't enough time to figure out if the running back should be Torain or Roy Helu. I wouldn't be surprised if Helu gets more carries next week. Then again, Evan Royster really impressed me during the preseason, maybe its time to activate him and see if he is the running back to go with in 2012.

And as for the Redskins being a bad team...I believe so. It's a shame because I do like John Beck and he clearly doesn't have the weapons around him to turn the season around. With Santana Moss out for a majority of the season and Jabar Gaffney doesn't appear to be a great replacement, I would expect Fred Davis to take over as leading receiver and make a case in becoming full time starter in 2012. The Skins also need a consistent back, and I believe it's Royster, who is just sitting on the practice squad.

I doubt if Grossman or Beck will still be in Washington come next year. Perhaps Beck can find work in another system, like Seattle if Tarvaris Jackson doesn't pan out.

And to finish my thoughts on Denver, I honestly don't place all the blame on Tim Tebow for this week's blowout loss. Willis McGahee is out, and Knowshown Moreno clearly is not starter quality and I didn't get to see enough of Lance Ball to see if he could be a temporary answer until McGahee returns. It'd also help if Tebow had a better offensive line so that he could get the ball to Decker, Thomas, Fells and Royal. Losing Brandon Lloyd didn't help, unless John Elway is purposely steering the Broncos towards a high draft pick. There is speculation he sees Andrew Luck as a younger version of himself and envisions Luck as the man to restore glory in Denver.

Week 8

Hello and welcome to Battlefield Turf: The Extended Edition. As I said in the description, this is an extension to my Crimson Monkey column. I can only fit in so much into my weekly article, therefore, I created this so I can fit more. Please continue to check out the Crimson Monkey article as I share my weekly predictions and analysis.

For this blog, I have so many ideas on what I could do. But for now, I'm willing to share my updated Fantasy Football line ups.

I play in 5 leagues.

ESPN league: Spring Hellions (1-5)

QB: Matt Hasselbeck

RB: Steven Jackson

RB: DeMarco Murray

RB: Jackie Battle

WR: Antonio Brown

WR: Emmanuel Sanders

WR: Steve Breaston

TE: Brandon Pettigrew

D/ST: Bengals

K: Jason Hanson

Projection: Hellions will lose 120-148

Yahoo league: Los Angeles Riots (0-3)

QB: Eli Manning

WR: Torrey Smith

WR: Emmanuel Sanders

WR: Jabar Gaffney

RB: Darren Sproles

RB: Ryan Torain

TE: Jake Ballard

D/ST: Bengals

K: Dan Bailey

Projection: Riots will win first game 87.62-63.64

CBS league: The Scary One (3-0)

QB: Tim Tebow

RB: Fred Jackson

RB: Pierre Thomas

WR: Steve Smith

WR: Jeremy Maclin

WR: Jabar Gaffney

TE: Aaron Hernandez

D/ST: Chargers

K: Jason Hanson

Projection: The Scary One will lose its first game 103-112

Fleaflicker league: Portland Beavers (2-1)

QB: John Beck

RB: LeSean McCoy

RB: DeMarco Murray

WR: Marquez Colston

WR: Antonio Brown

TE: Owen Daniels

D/ST: Saints

K: Josh Scobee

Projection: Beavers will win 112.2-75.55

NFL: Vegas Vegans (2-1)

QB: Philip Rivers

RB: Maurice Jones-Drew

RB: DeMarco Murray

RB: Ryan Torain

WR: Jabar Gaffney

WR: Calvin Johnson

TE: Jared Cook

D/ST: Saints

K: Jason Hanson

Projection: Vegans will win 137.54-112.96

So, my projections have me going 3-2 this weekend. I'm playing the ESPN league for pride now and I'm just experimenting with sleeper picks. I really hope I don't take a first loss in CBS but if it happens, it happens. I know Tebow is a stretch but I had no other choice with Aaron Rodgers out on Bye.