Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery's Post-Week 8 Fantasy Reaction

The Chicago Bears offense struggled to get going early in Sunday's contest against the New England Patriots, and fantasy owners of quarterback Jay Cutler and wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery had plenty of reason break the glass over the panic button. 

Here's a look how the trio fared:

Player	Pass Yds	TD	INT/FUM	Fantasy Pts
Player	Rec	Yds	TD	Fantasy Pts
Jay Cutler	227	3	1/1	17
Brandon Marshall	3	35	0	3
Alshon Jeffery	5	59	1	11

Cutler was given a difficult test in Week 8 against a solid Patriots secondary. He relied on check-downs to running back Matt Forte early in the game, leaving Marshall and Jeffery with few opportunities to generate and kind of substantial production.

The signal-caller did notch one touchdown pass in the first half; however, that went to Forte. A lost fumble and an interception didn't help Cutler's stats, either. Marshall and Jeffery were left as afterthoughts in the team's offensive scheme entering the break.

Bleacher Report's Ty Schalter tweeted his thoughts on the team's early performance:

Luckily for Cutler and Jeffery's fantasy owners, the Bears were blown out by the Patriots, and that resulted in some garbage-time points for both players.

This isn't a great sign following a Week 7 contest against the Miami Dolphins in which Cutler threw just one touchdown pass—to Forte—as Marshall and Jeffery earned just four and zero points, respectively, in standard scoring fantasy leagues.

A Week 9 bye is on the horizon for this team, but things won't get much easier thereafter with contests against the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions looming large. Making matters worse, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport alluded to potential dissension in the locker room:

Things don't look good for the Bears going forward.

Consider Cutler a QB2 due to his lack of recent productivity. While Marshall and Jeffery still warrant starts due to their glowing history, their values decrease until this offense can get going once again. It may be time for contending fantasy owners to consider offloading members of this trio in an effort to get more consistency into their starting lineups.