Pyro Fantasy Football Power Rankings - Week 8 Power Rankings for all 32 Teams-  10/24/12

Pyro Fantasy Football Power Rankings

Week 8 Power Rankings for all 32 Teams

Welcome to the second installment of the Pyromaniac.com Fantasy Power Rankings. Since this is our second issue we have included a new piece of the pie, risers and fallers from week to week. This weekly article is where you will find out which teams are dominating on the offensive and defensive side of the ball, in terms of Fantasy points. These charts and our insight will help you visualize how the season has gone to this point, and give you a better feel for how the season will go week to week.  By using these charts you will have a better understanding of which matchups to exploit on a week-to-week basis, and DOMINATE your fantasy league.

TOTAL FANTASY POINTS PER GAME SCORED BY NFL TEAM OFFENSES

The Green Bay Packers moved up a spot this week due in large part to how effectively their receivers have been playing over the past two weekends and of course the exceptional play of Aaron Rodgers. Jordy Nelson has had a resurgence over the last two Sundays scoring three times, Randall Cobb has also picked up the slack of Greg Jennings’ injury and performed like a breakout player.  The Packers now have the best receiving corps in terms of Fantasy production on a per game basis. With Jordy playing great, Cobb breaking out, James Jones playing great, especially in the red-zone, and everyone knowing Greg Jennings will eventually return, the Packers receiving score is crazy good and only getting better.

The biggest mover on the offensive side of the ball this weekend was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers who jumped an incredible 11 spots. This offense has built some good balance over the past few weeks, running effectively with Doug Martin and Josh Freeman throwing it to Vincent Jackson. The only thing this offense is truly lacking is a playmaker at the tight end position after they unexplainably let Kellen Winslow go in favor of the older and even more injured Dallas Clark. Imagine how potent this offense could be with a playmaker at the tight end position. The receiving corps is potent with Mike Williams who has a knack for making things happen in the red-zone and an explosive Vincent Jackson, ranking sixth in terms of fantasy production. Too bad this offense insists on giving the ball to LaGarette Blount or it could be even more potent.

The Houston offense looked good this weekend and they were the second biggest mover on the week. They jumped into the range of elite offensive numbers moving from 12^th to 7^th overall. The Houston offense isn’t the complex scheme of the Patriots with varying offensive personnel or anything but they are effective in what they like to do and they stick with what they know. The Texans will run Arian Foster all game long, spell him with two complimentary pieces in Justin Forsett and Ben Tate with two different running styles, and play action off of it with Schaub to their tight ends or Andre Johnson. Their tight ends have been very effective entering week 8 third in the league in points per game, Owen Daniels has seen a resurgence and it is making this offense hum. Their wide receivers have been a disappointment as they are the second worst to only the anemic Jacksonville Jaguars.

The two biggest fallers of the week were the Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens, both who had terrible quarterback play this past weekend. Both Flacco and Ponder failed to reach double-digit fantasy points as they had 5 and 2 points respectively. Their play this weekend was absolutely atrocious and it affected their receiving corps drastically, as two dynamic talents in Percy Harvin and Torrey Smith were all but shut down. Adrian Peterson was great in this game and they ran him all game because they had a lead, the Ravens however were forced to shut down the running game as they were down big forcing Flacco to throw, and consequently miss. These two games were a good example of how the early score of a game can greatly effect fantasy production. These two offenses were shut down by defenses that are now in the top six of fantasy points allowed.

TOTAL FANTASY POINTS PER GAME ALLOWED BY NFL TEAM DEFENSES

In a battle of two terrible defenses you guessed it, the final score was 35 to 34. This didn’t help either one as they both remain in the top five of points allowed.  The Titans and Bills may have switched places over the weekend but they were both great match ups for the opposing offense. Running backs from each teams had monster games as four of them had double digit fantasy points, Chris Johnson, Jamie Harper, CJ Spiller, and Fred Jackson. Of these four you want to know who had the lowest point total? No not Jamie Harper as he vultured two touchdowns, it was CJ Spiller. This was a fun shootout to watch and it was great for many fantasy teams, too bad for fantasy owners the Bills are on bye this weekend so you won’t be seeing that tasty matchup on your schedule.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense fell almost as far as the offense rose this past weekend. They fell 8 spots after facing the leagues best fantasy offense. Drew Brees went off yet again even without the presence of all world tight end Jimmy Graham. He did this by throwing touchdown passes to four different targets, including one of the most acrobatic touchdowns ever to Joe Morgan. He did have the advantage of taking on the 4^th worst defense in defending wide receivers.  The Tampa Bay defense lacks a consistent pass rush and their secondary is paying the price for it. Tampa Bay plays in the wrong division to have a bad secondary as they take on the Falcons and Saints twice a season.

The Chicago Bears came out and shut down the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. If it weren’t for a late TD the Bears would likely have remained the top defense in fantasy points allowed. The cover 2 scheme has been shutting down offenses all season long and it looked even better on Monday night football as Brian Urlacher has looked healthier than he has all season recovering from an early knee scope.  In a span of three plays the Ball Swatter Charles Tillman forced two fumbles, lucky for the Lions they both ended up out of bounds. This defense looks to take away the big plays and make offenses drive down the field till they make a mistake. The defense gets even better in the red-zone choking the number one receiver and making the quarterback look for other less dependable targets.

The Houston Texans defense was the biggest riser this weekend. Jumping up 4 spots from tenth to sixth place.  They are an effective defense because of JJ Swatt, this guy is amazing, he is so big and so long and so fast that any defense would love to have him, for a guy his size he is unbelievably quick and can flat out get to the quarterback. Besides JJ this defense has a number of good pass rushing linebackers and a great defensive coordinator in Wade Phillips. The Texans defense is predicated on stopping the run as they rank third in fantasy points allowed to running backs, JJ Watt is a big part of this and it allows this defense to stay ahead of the chains and use their attacking scheme to create havoc. Things are also looking up for the Texans as the only face one elite offense in New England the rest of the way, this is a defense that is worth saving a roster spot for and not releasing over their bye week.

By Stagg Party

- 10/24/12