by Mike Harmon

Fantasy Football

John Juhasz analyzes the fantasy impact of Ronnie Brown's season-ending foot injury and Larry Johnson's signing by Cincinnati. Who are this week's top 10 fantasy studs and duds? Who are the top 10 waiver claims or the top 10 sleepers? Or who are this week's top 300 fantasy players? Roger Rotter answers. Have a fantasy football question? Ask our experts on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3 p.m. ET! Roger Rotter also chats on Sundays from 11-1 p.m. ET!

On Sunday, a number of NFL players forgot to take off their Halloween costumes and get into the mix in support of their fantasy owners. That is to say, it appeared a number of our usual fantasy heroes took to wearing invisibility cloaks, as they were invisible from the box score (in positive terms, anyway).

Let's look at some of the mediocre and downright nasty performances from Week 8, starting with the displacement of a former hero.

I have no choice but to take the posters down from the wall. Steve Slaton lost another fumble, his fifth of the season, and was replaced by Ryan Moats in the Houston lineup against the Bills. Slaton carried the ball once for one yard, adding two receptions for 10 yards before leaving the game. The 2008 "Fantasy Man-Crush Award" winner has crushed my fantasy spirit.

There wasn't anything offensive about Peyton Manning's performance in Week 8, but he failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time this season. Manning completed 31-of-48 attempts for 347 yards and three sacks and didn't turn the ball over in the narrow victory over San Francisco. He'd thrown multiple touchdown passes in five consecutive games before getting shut out by the 49ers. Joseph Addai threw the Colts' only touchdown pass.

Jay Cutler passed for 225 yards in the 30-6 drubbing of Cleveland, but was sacked four times, threw an interception and was shut out of the end zone for the first time this season. He's averaged 258.7 passing yards in three games following the Bears' Week 5 bye.

Kurt Warner threw two touchdown passes in Sunday's blowout loss to the Panthers. That's the only positive thing I could say about his production, or lack thereof, in Week 8. Warner completed 27-of-46 pass attempts for 242 yards with five interceptions and a lost fumble. He also absorbed two sacks and was under duress all day. He's now thrown as many interceptions as he has touchdown passes.

Eli Manning struggled for the third straight week, and for the third straight week, the Giants were throttled. Manning completed 20-of-39 attempts for 222 yards with two sacks, two interceptions and a touchdown and has now thrown six interceptions in the past three weeks with three touchdowns and a lost fumble. He's still thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game this season, though. It's not much, but there's a little bit of love for owners.

The Broncos were steamrolled by the Ravens, so we can question the previously unbeaten Denver offense and defense altogether. Instead, I'll focus my comments and derision on the passing game.

Kyle Orton completed 23-of-37 attempts with no turnovers and just two sacks. Unfortunately, his 23 completions resulted in just 152 yards (6.6 yards per reception). With little help from the running game, he never had an opportunity to find holes in the Baltimore secondary, which had struggled in recent weeks.

Brandon Marshall had his worst game of the season in Denver's loss in Baltimore on Sunday. (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)

Brandon Marshall finished Sunday's game with four receptions for 24 yards, his worst receiving total of the year. On the positive side, he's caught three or more passes in every game this season.

Eddie Royal caught two passes for 10 yards. Last year's standout rookie is averaging 22.6 receiving yards per game through seven games.

Tony Scheffler had caught three or more passes in three straight games prior to the Broncos' Week 7 bye. He caught a single pass for nine yards in the blowout loss to the Ravens.

The Texans earned a resounding win over the Bills, but quarterback Matt Schaub was shut out of the end zone for the first time since Week 1. He completed 25-of-34 attempts for 268 yards with two sacks and two interceptions. He'd thrown multiple touchdown passes in five of the Texans' previous six games.

Once again, David Garrard failed to deliver returns for fantasy owners in a fabulous spot. He completed 14-of-27 attempts for 139 yards, three sacks and two interceptions. His 22 rushing yards offer some consolation, but owners forced to plug him into their lineups because of the bye week or who were frightened by a bad matchup were left wanting. He's failed to throw a single touchdown pass in his past three starts.

Clearly, owners of Mike Sims-Walker (two catches for nine yards) and Torry Holt (two receptions for 17 yards) were left out in the cold as well.

I recognize he was a longshot play at best, but Marc Bulger let me down in the St. Louis-Detroit battle this weekend. He completed 17-of-35 attempts for 176 yards and an interception and failed to take advantage of a Detroit defense that had allowed three touchdowns per contest entering this matchup. Sigh.

Accordingly, big play threat Donnie Avery was on the radar for a big day against the Detroit secondary. He finished the game with one catch for 15 yards and was targeted six times.

Lee Evans had been a rising star for fantasy owners, offering a bit of security as a third receiving option in recent weeks. Alas, the Buffalo offense struggled mightily on Sunday, and the speedster was limited to two receptions for 29 yards. He'd tallied 143 receiving yards in the past two weeks.

The Jets did a fantastic job in their efforts to contain the Wildcat this weekend. Unfortunately, they couldn't shut down Ted Ginn, Jr. or the Miami defense (three total D/ST touchdowns). Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams didn't factor into the game much at all after terrorizing the Jets and vexing their fans in the first contest. Brown was limited to 27 yards on 11 carries, adding a single reception for two yards. Williams fared better, producing 68 total yards (27 rushing yards with two receptions for 41 yards). The Wildcat didn't roar, but the Dolphins got the win nonetheless.

Seattle receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was once again a bystander for fantasy owners. He caught four passes against the Cowboys, his seventh straight game with at least four receptions. However, those provided owners with a paltry 24 receiving yards. Houshmandzadeh's been limited to fewer than 60 receiving yards in four games this season.

Jason Witten of the Cowboys has to be enjoying the recent run-up by Tony Romo and the Dallas passing game. However, he's been fairly invisible while frustrating fantasy owner along the way. He's caught four or more passes in every game of the season, but he hasn't scored since Week 2. In fact, his four catches for 36 yards against the Seahawks marked the Pro Bowl tight end's third game with fewer than 40 yards this season.

Another top-tier tight end who is failing his adoring fantasy owners is San Diego star Antonio Gates. He's scored only two touchdowns this season, both of which came in the Week 4 matchup against the Steelers. He caught three passes for 49 yards against the Raiders in Week 8, his second straight week with fewer than 60 yards.

Darren Sproles was on the radar as a potential sleeper for Week 8 against the Raiders. Alas, the Chargers were unable to create separation and put things on cruise control. As such, Sproles' opportunities were limited. He carried the five times for 38 yards, adding one reception for eight yards. He also lost a fumble, his first of the year.