What We Saw: Week 15

The QB List staff catches you up on everything you missed during Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season.

Ben Brown
What We Saw 3 Years Ago
Series Navigation
Introduction
Chargers @ Raiders
Bills @ Broncos
Panthers @ Packers
Texans @ Colts
Lions @ Titans
Patriots @ Dolphins
Bears @ Vikings
Seahawks @ Washington
Jaguars @ Ravens
Buccaneers @ Falcons
49ers @ Cowboys
Eagles @ Cardinals
Jets @ Rams
Chiefs @ Saints
Browns @ Giants

Bears @ Vikings

 

The 7-7 Chicago Bears kept their slim hopes of a playoff berth alive with a 33-27 road win against the 6-8 Minnesota Vikings, who have now lost 4 games by 6 points or less this season, effectively ending their playoff hopes. This was an entertaining game to watch for the neutral with over 800 yards, 3 rushing scores, 3 receiving scores, and 6 field goals. 3rd down efficiency plagued the Vikings and Kirk Cousins, who was often too slow in releasing the ball, allowing the Bears defense to take the upper hand in the 1st half. The star of the show, however, was David Montgomery who went off for 146 yards on the ground including 2 TDs, and completely outplayed Dalvin Cook, who trails only Derrick Henry in total rushing yards in the NFL this season.

This was still an extremely unconvincing offensive performance from Mitch Trubisky, and the only salvation was that Cousins and the playcalling from Gary Kubiak were equally as poor.

 

Chicago Bears

 

Quarterback

 

Mitch Trubisky: 15/21, 202 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 1 fumble lost, 1 sack | 8 carries, 34 yards

 

Somehow, someway Mitch Trubisky (14.48 fantasy points) is 5-2 as a starter this season. Today owed a lot to the run game but Trubisky did just enough once again to allow his team the opportunity to win. He set up the win with 2 good throws – 1 to Allen Robinson down the sideline, and then 1 to Darnell Mooney for the score, taking advantage of some busted coverage.

 

 

Trubisky should be nowhere near your QB1 conversation for next week but does have appeal as a QB2 against the hapless Jaguars. His pick today was more about the outstanding defensive play from Vikings rookie corner Cameron Dantzler, but it did occur in the red zone and allowed the Vikings back into the game.

 

 

Running Backs

 

David Montgomery: 32 carries, 146 yards, 2 TD | 2 targets, 1 reception, 16 yards

 

A career day for David Montgomery (29.20 fantasy points) now makes it 4 straight games with over 20+ fantasy points for the 2nd year back out of Iowa State. It should be noted that these performances have come against 4 of the worst defenses against the run in the league but still, Montgomery is finally looking the part as a lead back. His 2 rushing scores today were hard runs and that makes it 5 TDs in his last 3 games.

 

 

His second score of the day was particularly impressive as he showed good feet and determination to drive through contact and finish his run. Montgomery should be locked in as your RB2 next week.

 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Allen Robinson: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 83 yards

Darnell Mooney: 5 targets, 4 receptions, 49 yards, 1 TD | 1 carry, 16 yards

Jimmy Graham: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 25 yards

Anthony Miller: 1 target, 1 reception, 13 yards

Cole Kmet: 2 targets, 2 reception, 12 yards

Cordarrelle Patterson: 1 target, 1 reception, 4 yards | 1 carry, 4 yards

J.P. Holtz: 1 target

Javon Wims: 1 target

 

Let’s talk about Allen Robinson (12.30 fantasy points) some more – the most underrated wideout in the league (who has only ever played with bad quarterbacks) continues to work hard and produce for a team that doesn’t deserve him week in, week out. Only working with 5 targets, Robinson still managed to give the Vikings young secondary the run around all day. This was my favorite play of the day from him.

 

 

Robinson should be a solid WR1 for your fantasy championship matchup next week. The emergence of Darnell Mooney (16.50 fantasy points) as a valuable FLEX option this season despite poor quarterback play has been exciting to watch. This offense is low volume and Mooney is only seeing 4-5 targets which means he has been limited to under 60 yards in all but one game. He does have TDs in back to back games, however, and is an intriguing FLEX option next week.

 

Minnesota Vikings

 

Quarterback

 

Kirk Cousins: 24/35, 271 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 1 FUM, 3 sacks | 3 carries, 25 yards

 

Another game, another season, another polarizing performance from Kirk Cousins (20.34 fantasy points). In reality, we know what we are getting with Cousins – a quarterback who has never taken the next step and will generally win you 2 or 3 games a season but also lose you 2 or 3 games a season. In terms of fantasy, he is a decent streamer and will do the same for your fantasy team, win a couple, and lose a couple. Once again today Cousins had not 1 but 2 opportunities to lead the Vikings down the field at the end to win the game but came up short on both drives – he failed to complete a pass to tight end Tyler Conklin on the 1st drive and then threw an interception in the end zone on a Hail Mary pass as time expired. Considering the Vikings will likely miss the playoffs due to these failings, one suspects a trade might be in the offing around draft time in 2021.

Cousin did find his favorite red zone target, Adam Thielen to get his team on the board.

 

 

But the key period of play was just before half time. Cousins had his team on 1st and goal at the Bears 9-yard line with 49 seconds remaining in the first half trailing 20-7. A mix of poor playcalling and poor quarterback play meant the Vikings had to settle for a field goal, much to the dismay of star rookie Justin Jefferson.

 

 

Running Backs

 

Dalvin Cook: 24 carries, 132 yards, 1 TD | 5 targets, 5 receptions, 27 yards

Alexander Mattison: 1 carry, 1 yard | 1 target, 1 reception, 14 yards

 

Overshadowed by the performance of Montgomery, Dalvin Cook (26.90 fantasy points) still had another productive day and the argument is why wasn’t he used more in the passing game against the Bears linebackers that struggle to keep with speedy backs in front of them? Cook still has the potential to improve from a fantasy standpoint, which is both mouthwatering and alarming. Cook failed to convert a 4th and 1 on his own 34-yard line at a key time in the 2nd quarter which allowed the Bears to stretch out their lead just before the half. However, he did find joy in the 2nd half as the Bears defense ran out of juice, hitting paydirt for his 15th rushing TD of the season. He is a nailed on top 3 fantasy RB.

 

 

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

 

Justin Jefferson: 11 targets, 8 receptions, 104 yards

Tyler Conklin: 4 targets, 3 reception, 57 yards, 1 TD

Irv Smith Jr.: 4 targets, 3 receptions, 37 yards

Adam Thielen: 3 targets, 2 receptions, 11 yards, 1 TD

Chad Beebe: 2 targets, 2 receptions, 21 yards

 

Imagine, just imagine if Justin Jefferson (18.40 fantasy points) had a better quarterback in a high-volume passing offense? What a rookie season he would have had! Saying that he has already broken many rookie records and is firmly in the conversation for Offensive Rookie of the Year. This was his 6th game with over 100 yards and he again led the team with a 31% target share. Elite!

 

 

This is where the playcalling and Cousins’ decision-making really hurt the Vikings today. Adam Thielen (9.10 fantasy points), despite a 1st quarter TD, was only targeted 2 more times in the entire game. That is unacceptable. He leads the NFL with 12 receiving touchdowns and someone has to answer for the lack of looks today.

While many opted to go out and pick up Irv Smith Jr. (6.70 fantasy points) as their streaming TE this week, it was fellow tight end Tyler Conklin (14.70 fantasy points) who did the damage with an excellent 30-yard catch and run score to bring the Vikings back within 3 points with plenty of time left on the clock. Conklin, a fantastic blocking TE, looks the goods in Minnesota and could make Kyle Rudolph a trade chip for a contender next year.

 

 

— Benjamin Haller (@benjaminhaller1 on Twitter)

Series Navigation
Introduction
Chargers @ Raiders
Bills @ Broncos
Panthers @ Packers
Texans @ Colts
Lions @ Titans
Patriots @ Dolphins
Bears @ Vikings
Seahawks @ Washington
Jaguars @ Ravens
Buccaneers @ Falcons
49ers @ Cowboys
Eagles @ Cardinals
Jets @ Rams
Chiefs @ Saints
Browns @ Giants

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