FANTASY FOOTBALL IN-SEASON FEATURES

Prediction: CHI 20, MIN 6

Update: Adrian Peterson did not practice on Thursday to rest his knee but so far there is no concern that he will not play. We'll update him after Friday if anything changes but for now it appears the Monday night game is giving him more time to rest.

Update #2: The Vikings placed Tarvaris Jackson on injured reserve and while they have not formally named Joe Webb as the starter, it is all but certain that he will play instead of newly signed Patrick Ramsey. Peterson was held out of practice again but HC Leslie Frazier said that he was just getting an extra day of rest and would play on Monday. The switch to Webb places all Vikings projections as risky since we cannot know what to expect from him other than he is very mobile. No doubt that the Bears will load up even more against Peterson.

This is a rematch of week 10 when the Bears won 27-13 in Minnesota. The Vikings will play their final home game over at the Gophers stadium. This is the Monday night game, so expect to hear a never-ending eulogy about Brett Favre. The weather is expected to be probably in the teens for this outside game.

QUARTERBACK: Jay Cutler already passed for three touchdowns and 237 yards in the meeting in Chicago against the Vikings. Cutler has been less effective in most road games though the Vikings are struggling even more now that Brett Favre is out of the picture. The Vikes have allowed at least one passing score to every visitor this year and multiple scores to the better passers. The outside venue may affect the second touchdown projected.

RUNNING BACKS: Matt Forte only gained 69 yards on 21 carries in the home matchup with the Vikes and now heads to Minnesota where they have not allowed any runners to score or have more than 80 rushing yards. There is no chance that Forte is going to be the first and even if the Bears get close it would be Chester Taylor as the goal line back to get it. Expect moderate yardage at best and only his standard two catches per game.

WIDE RECEIVERS: The first matchup with the VIkes had Johnny Knox as the leading receiver with 90 yards on five receptions and Devin Hester turned in one touchdown with four catches for 38 yards. Earl Bennett only managed 21 yards on three receptions. The Vikings have already allowed ten touchdowns to wide receivers in Minnesota and the Bears have already had success against them.

Knox is the only wideout here with any reliable production and even then it has been largely with just yardage. I like one score for the wideouts and he's the most likely though it could go anywhere. These teams just played four weeks ago and the only thing to change is that the Vikings are worse.

TIGHT ENDS: Greg Olsen already has a touchdown this year on the Vikings when he caught three passes for 31 yards in week ten. He's rarely been good for any more yardage than that but his five touchdowns leads the team. He needs a score to have any fantasy value and that's a risk to rely on.

Pregame Notes: Between losing their stadium and Brett Favre, the Vikings looked like the air had been let out of the tires last week and now facing the Bears and playing in Philly next it is not likely to improve with the worst case scenario now happening - relying on Tarvaris Jackson who was booed by fans getting free tickets at a neutral site. The lack of passing is only going to mean more attention against the running game where the Vikings best weapon resides. This is the final home game and is not even at home. That speaks volumes about the sort of season the Vikes are having. They were even planning on celebrating their 50th year at halftime.

QUARTERBACK: Brett Favre has numbness and tingling in his hand and chances are he has played his last in the NFL. That leaves Tarvaris Jackson as the quarterback that everyone hates except for the coaching staff that kept him around. Jackson only managed to throw for 118 yards and no scores against the Giants. Even Brett Favre only had 170 yards and one score on the Bears in week ten.

The Bears have only allowed three passing touchdowns in road games this year and Jackson is unlikely to catch fire this week or any. If Jackson can score once, that will be success enough.

RUNNING BACKS: Adrian Peterson was held to only 51 yards on 17 carries in the previous meeting with the Bears and now there is even less reason to worry about the passing game by the defense. Add in LG Steve Hutchinson being out and there is no less concern about this week. No doubt that Peterson will be featured as much as possible and he is at home this time but temper your expectations because the Bears defense is one of the best ones and the Vikings offense is stumbling now without Favre. More troubling too is that in two games played this year with Jackson, Peterson has only been thrown one pass.

WIDE RECEIVERS: The scant good news is that Percy Harvin is expected back this week barring any further migraines. Harvin had his last touchdown scored when they played the Bears and he had four catches for 64 yards. Harvin has missed the last two games because of his headaches. Sidney Rice only had 60 yards on five catches from Jackson last week though he was targeted a season-high 12 times in that game. Rice did not play in the previous meeting with the Bears and returned to the playing field the following week.

Any touchdown pass is likely to end up here but the Bears are very good in the secondary. I am going to credit Harvin again for the score but the confidence level is low. Rice should command most of the attention from the secondary this time.

TIGHT ENDS: So far Jackson has killed the value of Vishante Shiancoe with only three catches for 24 yards over these last two weeks. No reason to start Shiancoe for the rest of the season.