Week 8 Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Final Recommendations for Your Fantasy Football Team

The NFL season is entering Week 8, which means you probably have a good idea about your fantasy football hopes. This week might be your last shot a making a late season-run toward the playoffs. Some fantasy owners might find themselves in a must-win situation.

Finding yourself in a must-win situation means that you cannot afford to make any mistakes. It is more important now than ever to make sure you sit and start the right players.

After seven weeks of the season, we now have a good idea about the capabilities of opposing defenses. This allows you to make decisions based on matchups.

The fantasy football season is in the stretch run—time to start making a push toward the playoffs.

Start 'Em: Arian Foster, Houston Texans

Matchups are important, except when you're dealing with a player like Arian Foster.

Foster is a must-start each and every week, especially after last week's performance. 

After a slow start, Foster appears to be completely healed from his hamstring injury.

Foster and the Houston Texans are taking on the Jacksonville Jaguars, a team coming off a big win versus Baltimore.

Jacksonville's defense has been allowing just about 100 yards per game on the ground, but that still shouldn't keep Foster out of your lineup.

The Houston Texans are without Andre Johnson, leaving Foster as the go-to guy. He is going to receive a ton of carries as the Texans aim to out-muscle the Jaguars.

There would have been a point when you thought of the Texans as a passing team, but that time has passed.

Start 'Em: A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals

Each week, A.J. Green is improving and making spectacular plays.

He is using every snap to develop a relationship with quarterback Andy Dalton, and this relationship has made Green the go-to guy in Cincinnati.

I expect Green's play to only improve as the season progresses.

Cincinnati is facing the Seattle Seahawks and their 20th-ranked passing defense. A.J. Green and the Bengals' passing offense will have plenty of opportunities to make plays.

They will be without their leading rusher Cedric Benson, who is serving a one-game suspension. This loss will put more pressure on Green and the passing game.

The Seattle offense is one of the worst units in the NFL. They are struggling to sustain drives and keep their defense off the field. This is going to give Green plenty of opportunities to make plays, as he will see increased snaps.

Start 'Em: Ray Rice, Baltimore Ravens

Ray Rice and the Baltimore Ravens are coming off of a terrible performance in which they were upset by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Actually, the defense played an excellent game, with the offense being the unit that struggled.

Many are pointing to Ray Rice and his eight carries as the reason for the loss.

During the week, John Harbaugh admitted that the Ravens didn't feature Rice enough. This admission will definitely impact the game plan versus the Arizona Cardinals.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Rice receive more than 25 carries.

The Arizona defense does not do a good job stopping the run. The matchup, combined with an increased workload, should mean a big day for Rice.

Sit 'Em: Rashard Mendenhall, Pittsburgh Steelers

The New England Patriots defense has not played impressive football, a fact constantly discussed during football talk.

However, their struggles are mainly limited to stopping the passing game, as they are barely allowing more than 100 rushing yards per game.

A lot of the Patriots' defensive struggles can also be attributed to the fast pace of the New England offense. Teams are forced to throw the football as they attempt to keep pace with the Patriots offense.

There are two major reasons to sit Rashard Mendenhall.

The Steelers will be forced to keep pace with the Patriots scoring. This will lead to less carries for the Mendenhall and the Steelers running backs. Mendenhall will also see less touches if the Patriots jump out to an early lead.

The matchup isn't great for Mendenhall, which makes him a risky fantasy starter.

Sit 'Em: Tim Tebow, Denver Broncos

Believe it or not, there are a lot of people that have Tim Tebow as their starting fantasy quarterback.

He actually has some value, as he has the ability to score with either his feet or arm.

However, those who are counting on Tebow should look elsewhere this weekend.

The Denver Broncos are facing the Detroit Lions, who feature a good defense. The strength of the Lions defense is their defensive line and ability to create pressure.

Tebow is going to find himself under duress for a majority of the game.

Tebow also has to play today without starting running back Willis McGahee, who is out with an injury. So the Broncos will be playing a pressure defense without much of a running game.

Expect to see the Lions defense pinning their ears back and attacking Tebow.