Monday Night Football Week 12 Preview
Chicago Bears (3-8) vs. Minnesota Vikings (6-5)
- Spread: Vikings -3
- Over/Under: 43.5
Breakdown
This week 12 Monday Night Football matchup finds two NFC North Rivals going at it. The Bears are coming off of a tough loss to the Lions last week where they blew a 12-point lead with a little over 3 minutes left in the game. Last week was Justin Fields’ first game since being injured against Minnesota in week 6. Fields looked great with the legs, rushing 18 times for 104 yards. Passing was still slightly lackluster, throwing for 169 yards and 1 score. On the season, Fields has thrown for 1,370 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. Last week was also starting running back, Khalil Herbert’s first game back from injury since week 5. A slow return as he only rushed for 35 yards but the Bears offense will be glad to have him back. In Herbert’s absence, D’Onta Foreman filled in and was quite good. Foreman has run for 381 yards and 4 touchdowns. DJ Moore is having a great season for the Bears, racking up 889 yards and 6 touchdowns. Moore is clearly the team’s number-one option, no other wide receiver has more than 350 yards receiving this season. Tight End Cole Kmet has been one of the better pass-catching tight ends in the entire league, bringing in 49 receptions for 439 yards and 5 touchdowns.
The Minnesota Vikings are one of the league’s hottest teams, winning 5 in a row before losing last week 21-20 to the Broncos. With Kirk Cousins missing the rest of the season with an Achilles injury, the Vikings traded for Josh Dobbs, who has been a great sparkplug for the offense. In three games this season, Dobbs has 647 yards passing, 4 touchdowns, and only 1 interception. Dobbs has even added another 131 yards on the ground and 3 rushing touchdowns. Justin Jefferson has not played since week 5 with a hamstring injury but is listed as questionable but most likely will not be active in this contest. Through weeks 1-5, he accumulated 571 yards and 3 touchdowns. One of the league’s best receivers and we should see him in week 14 against the Raiders with the Vikings going on bye in week 13. Rookie receiver Jordan Addison has been the top wide receiver since Jefferson’s injury and has filled in very well. Addison has seen 5 or more targets in every game this season except one. He has hauled in 48 receptions for 647 yards and 7 touchdowns, a very good rookie season for him so far. T.J. Hockenson leads all tight ends in both receptions and receiving yards, having himself a great season and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon.
Keys to Victory
Bears: Get Fields moving. Justin Fields is not a pocket passer so don’t make him one. When these teams met in week 6, Fields left hurt, but before that, he had 58 pass yards and 8 rush attempts for 46 yards. Fields can’t be scared to scramble and use his legs coming off of injury, but based on last week’s 18 attempts, I don’t think he is.
Vikings: The Run Game. In the first matchup, the Vikings run game was terrible. Alexander Mattison only had 44 yards on 18 carries, and the rest of the team only combined for another 2 rush yards. Josh Dobbs and his rushing upside will definitely help the offense move the ball on the ground as he is averaging 43 yards per game on the Vikings as a rusher.
Prop Bet Pick
DJ Moore Over 59.5 Receiving Yards (-114)
Moore has had some monster games playing with Fields, going for 90 or more yards in 4 of 6 games this season. The Vikings defense has struggled to stop the wide receiver position this season and Moore should see the bulk of the targets going to receivers.
DFS Picks
Bears Offense: Cole Kmet. In a contest with the Vikings, who blitz more than any other team, having a target near the line of scrimmage is going to be vital. Kmet has seen 4 or more targets in the last 4 games and should continue to see good volume for a tight end.
Vikings Offense: Greg Joseph. In the first matchup, Joseph went 2/3 on field goals with his long being 53 yards. The Vikings have their star pass catchers like Hockenson and Addison and I don’t quite trust Osborn or Powell to be consistent. Joseph has scored 8 or more fantasy points in 6 of the last 7 games.
