Minnesota Vikings - Fantasy News

Vikings vs. Bears Start 'Em / Sit 'Em

by Aaron Bowers

10/7/17

NFL

Minnesota Vikings

Latavius Murray

Monday Night Football will feature an NFC North divisional matchup when the Minnesota Vikings travel to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears. This game will be the first NFL start for Bears rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky, who is taking over the offense from veteran Mike Glennon.

This is the second Monday Night Football game for the Vikings this season after beating the New Orleans Saints at home in Week 1. A few days later, quarterback Sam Bradford injured his knee in practice and missed the subsequent three weeks. With Case Keenum under center, Minnesota has gone 1-2 with losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions.

The Bears enter this game at 1-3, and their record reflects their level of play so far this season. They lost a competitive game against the Atlanta Falcons and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in overtime, but they were embarrassed by the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This game features two tough defenses and below-average quarterback play. While it figures to be a low-scoring game, we’ve identified players to target and fade on Dober Play Cards this week.

Minnesota Vikings Week 5 Projected Fantasy Points
Stefon Diggs: 16.5 PFP
Case Keenum: 13.5 PFP
Adam Thielen: 11.0 PFP
Kyle Rudolph: 7.5 PFP
Kai Forbath: 6.5 PFP
Latavius Murray: 5.5 PFP
Jerick McKinnon: 5.5 PFP

Chicago Bears Week 5 Projected Fantasy Points
Jordan Howard: 14.0 PFP
Tarik Cohen: 10.0 PFP
Kendall Wright: 9.0 PFP
Deonte Thompson: 6.0 PFP
Zach Miller: 6.0 PFP
Josh Bellamy: 6.0 PFP
Connor Barth: 5.0 PFP

Start 'Em: Latavius Murray (5.5 PFP)

When he signed with the Vikings in the offseason, Murray surely thought he’d be the starting running back. However, an ankle injury and the emergence of Dalvin Cook pushed him to the backburner, and he carried the ball just seven times in three games before Cook tore his ACL. For better or worse, the job is now Murray’s to lose. Before his injury, Cook was averaging more than 20 touches per game. Murray should absorb most of that workload in this matchup, and he has a propensity for falling into the end zone. Keep in mind he scored 12 times on the ground with the Oakland Raiders last season.

Sit 'Em: Stefon Diggs (16.5 PFP)

Through four games, fantasy players have seen the wide range of possible outcomes for this offense. In Weeks 1 and 3, Diggs received great quarterback play and responded with 24.2 and 33.3 Dober Fantasy Points, respectively. In Weeks 2 and 4, Keenum was awful, and Diggs came back to earth with 4.1 and 12.3 DFP, respectively. The Bears defense is quietly one of the better units in the league, and with a rookie quarterback, Chicago will want to slow the game down and work the clock with its running game. Whether it’s Keenum or Bradford under center, it’s unlikely that Diggs gets into the end zone to get over his PFP this week.

Start 'Em: Jordan Howard (14.0 PFP)

The Bears are a team built around the running game. They rank seventh in the league in yards per attempt at 4.6 and are starting a rookie quarterback in a primetime game against a menacing defense. To stay in this contest, Chicago will need to run the ball early and often, and Howard will be the beneficiary. Additionally, though the Vikings have been one of the best defenses in the league in 2017, Howard gashed them in both matchups last year. In Week 8, he had over 200 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, and in Week 17 he rushed for 135 yards on 23 carries. His volume should be enough to get him over 14.0 PFP.

Sit 'Em: Deonte Thompson (6.0 PFP)

To say Thompson, who is in his sixth season, has been a journeyman in the NFL is being generous. In reality, he probably wouldn’t make the roster of most of the teams in the NFL. Now he has a rookie quarterback throwing him the ball and a matchup with one of the best cornerback tandems in the league in Xavier Rhodes and Terrance Newman. This should go very poorly for Thompson, who has two games this season with one reception and just three touchdowns in 41 career games. We recommend fading him on Dober Play Cards this week.