FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

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Prediction: CHI 24, JAC 10 (Line: CHI by 4)

Players to Watch: Maurice Jones-Drew

The 3-1 Bears come off a huge confidence booster smacking the Cowboys on Monday night. The 1-3 Jaguars get their third chance at home to score more than one offensive touchdown. That's probably not going to happen.

Pregame Notes: The Bears put a stamp of credibility on their season with the Monday Night dismantling of the Cowboys in Dallas where they won in all facets of the game. The defense continues to play at a high level if not better each week. Jay Cutler is still somewhat all over the map in production but comes off 275 yards and two scores in Dallas against what used to be good cornerbacks. This week is a second straight road game and comes on a shorter week which could make it tougher. Plus against a weak non-conference team. That is all to say that Cutler could end up with a wide range of potential stats this week. He has been as good as 333 yards and two scores and as bad as 183 yards with no touchdowns.

The most impressive and encouraging part of the Monday night win was the offensive line that limited Cutler to only two sacks and that played noticeably better than they started the season.

Matt Forte returned from his ankle injury and gutted it out but he was clearly still in pain and required his ankle to get rewrapped after having a defender fall on it. Forte was limited to just 13 runs but gained 52 yards while Michael Bush carried ten times for 29 yards. Forte will be six days better this week but that doesn't mean he will be 100%. He is sure to spend much of the practice time resting his ankle. He did not worsen his ankle and should play this week despite the likely practice absences.

Brandon Marshall comes off his best game of the year when he posted 138 yards and one score on seven receptions despite being given the best coverage the Cowboys had to offer. Marshall had two marginal games in recent weeks but came to play in Dallas. If the offense can get more consistency in the passing game, Marshall will be a top wideout for certain. That remains to be seen with the up and down nature of Cutler's passing so far.

No other receiver really matters on this team though Devin Hester caught a rare touchdown last Monday. Alshon Jeffrey has not produced over 45 yards since the season opener. Kellen Davis (3-62) had a freakishly good game for a player that had not been above the 21 yard mark and may not again.

This week Forte gets a shot at a weak rushing defense but he will get help from Michael Bush since he still is not 100% healthy. Cutler goes against a secondary that has allowed two passing scores in the last couple of games and are average at best. WIth the great likelihood that the Jaguars are not going to score much, the Bears won't have to worry about establishing a huge lead to protect.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Jay Cutler, CHI	@DET	0	0	0	0	0	240	2	1
Sure, the Lions held Cutler to 150 and 1 in the earlier meeting. But Detroit has now allowed 30-plus points in four of the last five and 24 or more in seven straight and really only cares about getting their passing game some records. In other words, defense is even less of a priority than usual. With the Bears in must-win mode and Matt Forte banged up, Cutler might actually put up decent numbers this week.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Matt Forte, CHI	@DET	80	1	5	30	0	0	0	0
Forte says he'll play on his ankle injury in this must-win game for the Bears, and he has historically fared quite well against Detroit: 100 yards from scrimmage and/or a touchdown in each of his nine career meetings with the Lions. It would be nice, however, to see him get some practice time in this week before trusting him with a fantasy start.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Brandon Marshall, CHI	@DET	0	0	8	120	1	0	0	0
Marshall needs 34 yards to reach 1,500; that's pretty much a given. In fact, 34 catches for the guy who could finish the season with 100 more catches than the next closest Bear wideout wouldn't be all that shocking. The Bears need to win, which means a heavy dose of Marshall once again.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Alshon Jeffery, CHI	@DET	0	0	4	50	1	0	0	0
If there's to be any leftovers after Brandon Marshall takes his 20 catches off the top, they'll go to Jeffery. Considering the Falcons saw both their talented wideouts find the end zone last week, Jeffery's not a bad play in a must-win game for the Bears.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Martellus Bennett, CHI	@DET	0	0	4	40	0	0	0	0
Bennett was held to just one catch in the earlier meeting with Philly, and Bear Pascoe stole his touchdown in that game. The Eagles haven't given up a TE TD in more than a month, yet another trend that makes Bennett a difficult at best fantasy start.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Steve Maneri, CHI	@DET	0	0	1	10	0	0	0	0
With Tony Moeaki hurt, Maneri is the tight end of record in Kansas City. Or so we think; he hasn't seen a target since mid-October.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Olindo Mare, CHI	@DET	2	2	3	3
The Bears need to win, the Lions give up tons of points, and the weather won't be a factor. Not a bad combo if you're in need of a kicker this week.

Pregame Notes: After the season opener, there was much optimism about the offense even though it was an overtime loss. Blaine Gabbert passed for 260 yards and two scores. There were new receivers and Maurice Jones-Drew was back after his ill-fated holdout for nothing. But then it only took one week for the Gabbert we knew to show back up. He passed for just 53 yards against the Texans. He has not topped 186 yards since the first game and is mostly grateful that Russell Wilson is the new guy with even worse yardage.

Once again, the Jaguars live and die by whatever Maurice Jones-Drew does and even then that is usually not enough. He has only one big rushing effort so far when they went to Indianapolis and last week was held to 38 yards on 13 runs. After the game, HC Mike Mularkey said they should have ran him more. The reality is they should probably run him on every play that they are not throwing to him.

Laurent Robinson has a concussion and is expected to miss this match-up. He only had one catch in the last two games combined despite being the primary receiver. Justin Blackmon caught six passes for 48 yards against the Bengals which looked huge because his career so far had only produced four receptions for 41 yards.

The only thing that ever happens in this passing offense is when every other game Cecil Shorts catches what turns into a long touchdown. And in his non-scoring weeks, he literally has no catches. Marcedes Lewis scored twice this season with minor yardage and yet his two off games were both one catch for eight or less yards. You really have to hit these receivers on the right week to avoid taking a goose egg from their fantasy score. Not that any of them have any fantasy merit.

The monumental problem this week is that the Bears defense has only allowed one touchdown all year to a running back. They are allowing only 55 rushing yards TOTAL per game and only 3.4 yards per carry. Last week they held DeMarco Murray to only 24 yards on 11 runs. Not a good situation when the entire offense revolves around Maurice Jones-Drew.

It helps to play the Bears on their second straight road game and in a short week for them. But chances are high it won't matter much to a team that has never had much offensive punch in two years.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
QB Chad Henne, JAC	@TEN	0	0	0	0	0	200	1	2
Henne already racked up 261 yards and two scores on the Titans who have been good for at least one or two passing scores to every opponent. Losing Shorts this week won't help though nor will a road game. Can't expect more than moderate yardage and one score.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
RB Montell Owens, JAC	@TEN	40	1	1	10	0	0	0	0
Owens has been a decent fantasy start for being a waiver wire find a few weeks back but he has really been ineffective in his two road games with never more than 50 total yards and never scoring. The Titans are not great against the run and allowed even Jennings to score once on them. The yardage is not likely to be much here but Owens has a very good shot to score once against a defense that has already allowed 18 touchdowns to running backs this year.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Justin Blackmon, JAC	@TEN	0	0	6	80	1	0	0	0
Blackmon posted 5-62 and one score against the Titans before but now Shorts will be gone. That could mean lots more passes for Blackmon or just more defensive coverage dedicated to him. He's as good as any Jaguar to score though and has enough upside to merit some consideration this week.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
WR Jordan Shipley, JAC	@TEN	0	0	5	70	0	0	0	0
Shipley could see more work with Shorts out but nothing that would merit a fantasy start this week.

	Opp	RuYD	RuTD	Rec	ReYD	ReTD	PaYD	PaTD	Int	ConFac
TE Marcedes Lewis, JAC	@TEN	0	0	5	40	0	0	0	0
Lewis gained 56 yards on four catches versus the Titans last time and the loss of Shorts could end up with more work for him. But he has only scored in one of the last 11 games and fell below 30 yards in each of his last three games.

	Opp	fga	FGM	xpa	XPM	ConFac
K Josh Scobee, JAC	@TEN	2	1	2	2
Never worthy of a fantasy start.

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