This article is part of our Showdown/Single Game DFS Breakdown series.
Monday night's game at Minnesota probably won't go well for the visiting Bears. The Vikings are rolling, their offense and defense both are polished products, and they have plenty at stake giving them reason to put forth one of their better efforts at Chicago's expense. The Vikings are favored by 7.0 points with the over/under set at 44.0.
QUARTERBACK
Sam Darnold ($10600 DK, $15500 FD) isn't an easy fade, both because he's played well for his own part and because the Bears defense has lost its bite over the course of the season. Playing indoors against an overmatched squad while throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson is a rather cushy setup.
Caleb Williams ($9600 DK, $14000 FD) is unlikely to play a clean game, but he could put forth a decent fantasy box score via pass attempt volume, like when these teams last played. Then again, Williams is unlikely to throw 47 passes in this one, and if he doesn't have volume boosting his stats he's unlikely to be bailed out by efficiency or anything otherwise resembling luck.
RUNNING BACK
Aaron Jones ($10000 DK, $13000 FD) is set up well here, as the Vikings are rightly heavy favorites and the Bears run defense has been rather weak all year. If Jones disappoints it might be because he had a scoring opportunity or two poached by Cam Akers ($3000 DK, $7500 FD) or, in a less likely sense, Ty Chandler ($200 DK, $6000 FD).
Monday night's game at Minnesota probably won't go well for the visiting Bears. The Vikings are rolling, their offense and defense both are polished products, and they have plenty at stake giving them reason to put forth one of their better efforts at Chicago's expense. The Vikings are favored by 7.0 points with the over/under set at 44.0.
QUARTERBACK
Sam Darnold ($10600 DK, $15500 FD) isn't an easy fade, both because he's played well for his own part and because the Bears defense has lost its bite over the course of the season. Playing indoors against an overmatched squad while throwing to Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson is a rather cushy setup.
Caleb Williams ($9600 DK, $14000 FD) is unlikely to play a clean game, but he could put forth a decent fantasy box score via pass attempt volume, like when these teams last played. Then again, Williams is unlikely to throw 47 passes in this one, and if he doesn't have volume boosting his stats he's unlikely to be bailed out by efficiency or anything otherwise resembling luck.
RUNNING BACK
Aaron Jones ($10000 DK, $13000 FD) is set up well here, as the Vikings are rightly heavy favorites and the Bears run defense has been rather weak all year. If Jones disappoints it might be because he had a scoring opportunity or two poached by Cam Akers ($3000 DK, $7500 FD) or, in a less likely sense, Ty Chandler ($200 DK, $6000 FD).
D'Andre Swift ($7600 DK, $10000 FD) is doing his best to carry the Bears offense and deserves credit for playing through injury, but the task in front of him is almost unfairly difficult due to the struggles of the Chicago offensive line, especially in the face of a defense this ruthless. Travis Homer ($2000 DK, $6000 FD) is the next runner up, but he played only seven snaps to Swift's 41 last week.
WIDE RECEIVER + TIGHT END
Justin Jefferson ($12000 DK, $17000 FD) is always a perilous fade, and this game is no exception, though the recent surge from Jordan Addison ($8400 DK, $11500 FD) has made it more difficult to affordably corner the Minnesota passing game. Jalen Nailor ($3200 DK, $7000 FD) and Brandon Powell ($1200 DK, $5500 FD) pop up occasionally, but generally T.J. Hockenson ($5800 DK, $9500 FD) is the third-leading receiver in this offense. Fellow tight ends Josh Oliver ($2800 DK, $7500 FD) and Johnny Mundt ($2400 DK, $6500 FD) are usually decent punt-play considerations, especially Oliver, but Hockenson is generally the tight end the Vikings want drawing targets.
DJ Moore ($8000 DK, $12000 FD) has a tough matchup here and only drew seven targets on Williams' 47 passes the last time these teams played, but he was highly effective on those seven targets and can't be covered by the Vikings corners. Keenan Allen ($7000 DK, $10500 FD) and Rome Odunze ($6400 DK, $9000 FD) are candidates to see elevated target counts if Williams throws enough passes again, but expecting efficiency for any combination of the three might be a bit greedy. Cole Kmet ($4400 DK, $7000 FD) is a good player and could very well pop up in the cashing equation in this game, but it's just about impossible to predict his usage and his last touchdown was in Week 6. Gerald Everett has played less than Marcedes Lewis the past month, limiting the punt-play appeal of both.
KICKER
Will Reichard ($5000 DK, $8500 FD) seems like a good kicker and his setup here is very good. Kicking indoors as a heavy home favorite in a game where the Vikings figure to enjoy short fields on offense, Reichard could be in field-goal range more than a few times here. On the other hand, it's possible Reichard isn't perfectly healthy from his quadriceps injury – Reichard missed his only field goal attempt last week.
Cairo Santos ($4800 DK, $8000 FD) is a good kicker and could be a cash-viable option here if the Bears get into scoring range often enough, but that condition might not get met if the Bears offense plays like it generally has this year.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS
The Bears ($3400 DK, $8000 FD) defense is not set up well here. Their play has declined over the course of the year, and while they still have the talent that earned them the high expectations to begin with the Chicago organization is too much of a mess to get returns equal to their talent.
The Vikings ($5400 DK, $8500 FD) defense is set up well. The Bears offensive line has struggled in most games this year, and Caleb Williams generally can't play well within structure at the moment. Sacks and turnovers could both be plentiful.
