Bears vs. Packers
Bears
Mitch Trubisky: Work in Progress
If you stopped watching the game at halftime tonight, I have some bad news. Aaron Rodgers came back on a bum leg, created his usual brand of magic, and did just enough (as well as Kyle Fuller pardoning him on a would-be game-ending interception) to secure the comeback victory for the Packers. Mitch Trubisky wasn’t asked to do much tonight, and it’s clear he still has some developing to do. He had 100 yards passing by the end of the first quarter, but he preceded to not do much more for the rest of the game. He finished 23/35 for 171 yards and 32 yards rushing with a touchdown. Really, the Packers were able to shut Trubisky down after the first half–once they realized everything the offense planned was a mix of short passes and Jordan Howard runs. Trubisky is a streamer candidate right now because of his rushing upside, but I fear that he will be a bit Jekyll and Hyde statistically speaking. Still, he has the tools to become something special in time.
Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen
Going into the season, I was highest on Jordan Howard and Trey Burton. I am happy to see that I was dead on with my Howard love. He had 15 rushes for 85 yards as well as 5 catches on 5 targets for 25 yards receiving. Howard looked the part tonight, and I imagine the offense will continue to run through him each week. Keep starting him confidently moving forward. For Tarik Cohen, there simply wasn’t as much available. Cohen depends more on the big play, and the Packers mostly kept this in check. I think Cohen could see more involvement in the future, but right now he is a bench stash while I wait for more. I imagine his season will be very boom and bust. Still, he would have immense value if anything happened to Howard or one of the pass catchers to open up a role for him.
Allen Robinson, Trey Burton, and the Pass Catchers: Who can I trust?
Trubisky did a lot of spreading the ball around, and nobody really lit it up as a result. Still, we can take away some important information from week 1’s target share. Allen Robinson and Trey Burton led the way with 7 and 6 respectively. Robinson converted his 7 targets into 4 catches for 61 yards while Burton only managed 1 catch for 15 yards on his 6 targets. If we are to believe in this moving forward, then continue to trust Robinson and Burton. I believe in tracking targets, and I would be happy to trade for Burton right now after the down week. I don’t think Robinson, however, would come at the same discount. Outside the top two, Taylor Gabriel had 5 catches for 25 yards and Anthony Miller had 2 grabs for 14 yards. I will continue to stash Miller, but otherwise the rest of the offense doesn’t excite me.
Khalil Mack: Should I believe in the Bears D?
Watching the Bears defense tonight, two things were clear to me: this group has some huge ceiling, and they need some more conditioning work. The first half was absolute domination by Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, and the rest of the pass rush. It was enough to nearly knock Rodgers out and cement the game. Nearly. However, the second half saw an up-tempo Packers offense and it clearly slowed the rush down. They didn’t register another sack, and they barely got in Rodgers’ face again. I choose to believe the first half, and I think that Vic Fangio will continue to put his defenders in opportune situations. It’s not every day you have to face one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time doing once in a lifetime things. If the Bears defense is available in your league, pick it up immediately and don’t look back.
-Mike Miklius
Packers
Aaron Rodgers’ Targets
The Green Bay Packers’ targets were skewed in Week One as a result of a mad dash by Green Bay to overcome a 17-point deficit entering the 4th quarter, having only been limited to a field goal in the first three quarters. The final line had Randall Cobb with 10 targets, Davante Adams and Geronimo Allison with 8 a piece, and Jimmy Graham with four targets. What is worth noting is that the bulk of Cobb’s targets came before the fourth quarter and although he took one reception 75 yards for the game-winning touchdown – he was frequently used before Green Bay started airing it out (Allison had four targets from the last two minutes of the 3rd quarter on). Moving forward, Cobb seems to be worthy of universal ownership and has a near WR2 lock if those targets stay consistent.
Defense(s)?
Although Green Bay won the game, it did not do so on the back of its defense. Chicago had the ball for 33:22 and ran 77 plays, with their longest drive being 14 plays. Green Bay had one drive over 8 plays and scored either on drives 4-5 plays long out of necessity. Moving forward, Green Bay seems to have an unreliable unit for fantasy purposes and will find itself in a shootout most weeks.
The Running Game
Jamaal Williams managed 47 yards on 15 carries and no receptions on two targets. Aaron Jones is waiting in the wings in Week Three and Williams may find it tough to break out against an equally stout Minnesota defense. Williams did spend most of the latter half in pass protection mode, which he did well. If Green Bay can stick with Minnesota early on, Williams should be in line for more touches in Week Two and still poses upside for now through sheer workload.
Green Bay Offense
Green Bay’s offense was held to 28 plays on seven drives in the first half of last nights game. The longest drive in the first half ended in a fumble by DeShone Kizer. Khalil Mack was a monster that nearly single-handedly took down Green Bay’s offense, forcing and recovering the fumble, making one sack, and returning an interception for a touchdown. Although Chicago is in part responsible for Green Bay’s woes – it struggled to get anything going until it absolutely needed to late in game.
-Brennen Gorman
Coleman should do a fine job of limiting his own usage – he always does. Freeman should get all he can handle. I would call him the best value of the RB1s.
Freeman was a borderline RB1 coming into the season. You can hardly call him that if the division of carries continues.