Monday Night Week 5 Fantasy Football Breakdown: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions

Week 5 Monday Night Matchup:

Chicago Bears (2-2) at Detroit Lions (4-0)

Chicago Bears

(Bears Schedule)

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Detroit Rush Defense – 2011: 113.0 Yards Allowed/Game (20th) – One TD Allowed (T-2nd)

Detroit Pass Defense – 2011: 221 Yards Allowed/Game (12th)  – Five TDs Allowed (T-10th)

Chicago Offensive Cast

Jay Cutler (QB Week 5 Ranking: No. 14)

2011 Season: 71/131 – for 960 yards and 5 TDs

The Bears kept true to their word and got back to the ground game last week against the Panthers, but Cutler will have to pass the ball in this one.

Detroit is a completely different team than what Chicago is used to facing lately and they may find themselves down a couple scores early on Monday night. If so, look for OC Mike Martz to pull the same old crap and abandon the run-game for his “greatest show on turf” playbook.

Cutler has always done well against the Lions, so there’s definitely some upside potential here.

Matt Forte (RB Week 5 Ranking: No. 6)

2011 Season: 60 carries for 324 yards and one TD || 26 receptions for 310 yards and one TD

Forte did me right as my No. 1 ranked RB last week, but it won’t be as easy for him against this much improved Detroit defense. The yards will be there for him both running the ball and catching it out of the backfield, but the Lions have been super-tight around the end zone, giving up just one rushing TD on the season.

Last year, Forte was able to put up 100-plus total yards in each of their meetings and had 151 yards receiving with two TDs in the first one. I can’t see that happening again, but if the Bears get him the ball at least 15-20 times like they should, he’ll have no problem putting up some serious fantasy numbers for your squad.

Marion Barber (RB Week 5 Ranking: No. 39)

2011 Season: Five carries for 17 yards and one TD || 0 receptions for 0 yards and 0 TDs

Barber is taking on the goal-line carries now that he’s healthy and should have a bit of fantasy value going forward, especially in touchdown leagues.

Johnny Knox (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 33)

2011 Season: 12 receptions for 237 yards and 0 TDs

It never should have taken this long, but it seems the Bears are finally getting Johnny the ball on a regular basis. Indoors in Detroit, Knox should be able to use his all-world speed to do some fantasy damage tonight, so take a chance with him as a WR3 with pretty decent upside.

Devin Hester (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 60)

2011 Season: Seven receptions for 139 yards and 0 TDs

Still one of the most electric players in the league, Hester is always a possibility as a desperation fill-in from week-to-week. If your WR corps is banged up to hell, it might be worth taking a chance here.

Dane Sanzenbacher (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 46)

2011 Season: 10 receptions for 82 yards and two TDs

Sanzenbacher emerged as a go-to target for Cutler in weeks two and three, but he pretty much disappeared last weekend with the Bears turning to the running game. He’s a so-so flex play in PPR leagues, but that’s about it.

Earl Bennett (WR Week 5 Ranking: Not Ranked)

2011 Season: Three receptions for 20 yards and 0 TDs

Bennett is usually no more than a desperation play at best, but he’s out again tonight anyway so go ahead and move on.

Roy Williams (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 67)

2011 Season: Five receptions for 70 yards and 0 TDs

Drop after drop, poor effort after poor effort, I no longer have words to describe the crap sandwich Big Roy has become. Well, I guess I just did.

Kellen Davis (TE Week 5 Ranking: No. 27)

2011 Season: Three receptions for 55 yards and one TD

It’s tough to be a tight end in a Martz-run system, even when you’re 6’7”, 267-pounds and can actually catch and run with the ball. Kellen might be a red-zone option at times, but unfortunately, not much more than that.

Detroit Lions

(Lions Schedule)

Opponent Defensive Ranks

Chicago Rush Defense – 2011: 124.3 Yards Allowed/Game (23rd) – Two TDs Allowed (T-8th)

Chicago Pass Defense – 2011: 302 Yards Allowed/Game (29th) – Seven TDs Allowed (T-18th)

Detroit Offensive Cast

Matthew Stafford (QB Week 5 Ranking: No. 5)

2011 Season: 100/161 – for 1,217 yards and 11 TDs

Stafford has quickly become one of the more lethal fantasy QBs in the game this season and should continue his onslaught against a weak Bears secondary tonight.

All-World WR Calvin Johnson is basically unguardable, but even if the Bears try to take him out with double- or triple-teams, Detroit has so many other weapons for Staff to throw to in Nate Burleson, Jahvid Best, Titus Young and Brandon Pettigrew that his stats shouldn’t take a hit.

I expect the Lions to try to put their stamp on the NFC North tonight, an effort which should mean a whole lot of fantasy stats for young Stafford.

Jahvid Best (RB Week 5 Ranking: No. 9)

2011 Season: 60 carries for 190 yards and one TD || 17 receptions for 205 yards and one TD

The Bears have been run on all season long and I expect the trend to continue this evening.

Chicago will likely play the pass with Stafford being on fire the way he is, but in doing so, a bunch of holes will be left along the line for Best to squirm through. Jahvid is so incredibly quick and shifty (especially at home in the dome) that even the speed of the Bears defense will have trouble keeping up.

Jahvid should be able to tally 100-plus total yards and cross the goal-line at least once tonight.

Jerome Harrison (RB Week 5 Ranking: Not Ranked)

2011 Season: 14 carries for 41 yards and 0 TDs || One reception for three yards and 0 TDs

Harrison will get a handful of carries each game but won’t have a true fantasy role unless Best gets injured.

Keiland Williams (RB Week 5 Ranking: No. 48)

2011 Season: 15 carries for 42 yards and one TD || 0 receptions for 0 yards and 0 TDs

Same goes for Keiland, but he really doesn’t have any fantasy upside no matter what happens.

Calvin Johnson (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 1)

2011 Season: 24 receptions for 321 yards and eight TDs

What can you say about a guy who has put up two touchdowns in four straight games to start the season, a feat never before accomplished? Nothing, except that Megatron is a fantasy warlord!

The last time we saw this impressive of a touchdown streak from a receiver was when Dwayne Bowe put up 13 touchdowns in just seven weeks of action last season. With the way Johnson and Stafford are dominating right now, another such run looks like it could be in the works.

Oh and by the way, this also happens to be Calvin’s first career Monday night game, so enjoy.  

Nate Burleson (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 38)

2011 Season: 16 receptions for 181 yards and 0 TDs

Burleson always has a chance to do some fantasy damage, but his targets and catches are dwindling due to Titus Young’s ascension, so he’s more of a WR4 or occasional flex plug-in than anything else right now.

Titus Young (WR Week 5 Ranking: No. 51)

2011 Season: 12 receptions for 181 yards and 0 TDs

I absolutely love this kid’s playmaking ability and apparently the Lions do, too.

Stafford has been throwing him the ball more and more lately as Titus now has more targets than WR2 Nate Burleson.

Give him another week or two to show he can be consistent, but he has some potential to climb up into the fantasy WR3 range down the line.

Brandon Pettigrew (TE Week 5 Ranking: No. 6)

2011 Season: 22 receptions for 240 yards and 0 TDs

Stafford finally understands what Pettigrew is good for in this offense…the bailout dump-off pass.

Brandon has seen a combined 22 targets the last couple of weeks and caught 17 of them for 176 yards. He doesn’t have a TD yet in 2011, but against a Bears defense that has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season, that could change real quick.

Tony Scheffler (TE Week 5 Ranking: Not Ranked)

2011 Season: Three receptions for 51 yards and two TDs

Scheffler catches the occasional TD, but you can’t play him on your fantasy team if you expect more than a catch or two a game.

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Rankings based on top 26 QBs, 50 RBs, 75 WRs and 30 TEs

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