Thursday Night Fantasy Football Matchup: Chicago Bears at Miami Dolphins

Thursday Night Matchup:  Bears @ Dolphins

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Chicago @ Miami

Chicago Bears (6-3)    Bears Schedule 

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Miami Pass Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 6th - TDs Allowed T-12th

Miami Rush Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 16th – TDs Allowed T-9th

Chicago Offensive Cast

Jay Cutler (QB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 150/246 – for 1,908 Yards & 12 TDs

Not only is Cutler not as good on the road, but this matchup just doesn’t suit him very well.  He could end up with some decent stats, but if you have anyone else worth playing, you might want to think about it.

Matt Forte (RB Week 11 Ranking: No. 27) 2010 Season: 125 carries for 470 yards & three TDs || 30 receptions for 324 yards & three TDs

Forte’s fantasy stock is pretty low at this point, but he’s still the main back for the Bears.  If he can get around 20 touches in this game, he’ll produce.  If not, he’s basically useless unless you play in a PPR league.

Chester Taylor (RB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 65 carries for 206 yards & one TD || 14 receptions for 100 yards & zero TDs

Taylor’s touches have been increasing as of late, but still not enough to make him worth a dang in the fantasy world.

Johnny Knox (WR Week 11 Ranking: No. 25) 2010 Season: 32 receptions for 617 yards & one TD

Knox has the most big-play potential on the Bears squad, so with the Dolphins being prone to giving up the big one, you can bet Cutler will be looking Johnny’s way quite a bit this game.  Early week games rarely produce big-time stats, but Knox has a better chance than most to buck that trend.

Devin Hester (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 24 receptions for 243 yards & two TDs

The Bears have been tapering back on Hester’s offensive snaps in order to get him more involved on Special Teams, so sit him on your bench unless your league uses return yardage.

Earl Bennett (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 27 receptions for 284 yards & one TD

Bennett still isn’t worth much in fantasy, but he is the WR2 now for Chicago.  Martz claims he put in specific plays for him because he’s done so well learning the offense, but I’ve yet to see that make a difference.

Devin Aromashodu (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: Eight receptions for 120 yards & zero TDs

Aromashodu remains one of the bigger disappointments on the year for both the Bears and fantasy owners.

Greg Olsen (TE Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 24 receptions for 282 yards & four TDs

Olsen has been a crapshoot all year long, and though he’s scored TDs in each of the last two weeks, he’s still not worth the chance of starting him and ending up with a fat zero on your fantasy team unless your normal guy is injured. 

Miami Dolphins (5-4)    Dolphins Schedule 

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Chicago Pass Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 15th - TDs Allowed T-1st

Chicago Rush Defense – 2010: Yards Allowed/Game 2nd – TDs Allowed T-26th

Miami Offensive Cast

Tyler Thigpen (QB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 6/12 – for 79 yards & one TD

The Dolphins move on to their third starting QB in the last three weeks against the Bears this Thursday night, and to be quite honest, he might actually be the best of the bunch.  Give him a week or two to see what he’s made of before picking him up in your fantasy league though.

Chad Henne (QB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 195/305 – for 2,140 yards & nine TDs

Henne was benched, then came back in, then got injured, and will likely play backup to Thigpen for the rest of the year once the Dolphins coaches see what Thigpen can do.  Stash him one your bench just in case, but don’t expect anything out of him anytime soon.

Ronnie Brown (RB Week 11 Ranking: No. 29) 2010 Season: 113 carries for 444 yards & three TDs || 18 receptions for 120 yards & zero TDs

Ronnie is only seeing 14.5 touches a game this year, and even less when the Dolphins play at home.  However, he’s at least been finding the endzone lately (one TD in each of the last two games) and even though the Bears rush D doesn’t give up many yards, they do give up a bunch of rushing TDs so Brown could be useful on your fantasy team in that regard.

Ricky Williams (RB Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 89 carries for 400 yards & one TD || Eight receptions for 52 yards & one TD

Ricky still isn’t getting enough love in this offense to start on your fantasy team this year.  Until Ronnie Brown goes down, stash him.

Brandon Marshall (WR Week 11 Ranking: No. 23) 2010 Season: 55 receptions for 652 yards & one TD

Marshall will see his third starting QB of the year this Thursday night, a fact that can actually work into his favor.  The lesser QBs in this league tend to lean on the more established receivers and their tight ends to make up for their shortcomings, so with Marshall being the undisputed stud on offense, he may finally get the stats that people were expecting earlier in the year.

Davone Bess (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 48 receptions for 480 Yards & three TDs

Davone’s stats have taken a turn for the worse lately, and now that Miami has a new QB under center, it’s hard to predict which way they’ll go from here.  Give him a week before starting him again.

Brian Hartline (WR Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 34 receptions for 470 yards & one TD

Every once in awhile, Hartline puts up a nice column full of stats, but it’s a little too far and between to think about playing him other than in the deepest of leagues.

Anthony Fasano (TE Week 11 Ranking: Not ranked) 2010 Season: 25 receptions for 367 yards & three TDs

Fasano had the game of his life last weekend and earned a fat contract extension because of it.  However, the Bears have yet to give up a touchdown to opposing tight ends this year, so don’t go thinking last week will all of the sudden turn into a regular thing.