The Week 15 matchup between the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings features two teams with solid running games. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 15: Bears-Vikings featuring Jeremy Langford, Alshon Jeffery and Adrian Peterson
We break down the Week 15 matchup between the Chicago Bears and the Minnesota Vikings.
Chicago Bears
The Vikings have only allowed two touchdowns to running backs since Week 4. That doesn’t bode well for either Jeremy Langford or Matt Forte. The two backs find themselves in a timeshare sort of situation It appears that Langford is the future, but the problem is that Forte is still the lead back Chicago uses as its main pass catcher, so in PPR formats, the veteran is the one to plug into the lineup.
The best fantasy value in Chicago right now comes in the form of wide receiver Alshon Jeffery. He has at least nine targets in six of the last seven games. Last week he turned those targets into six catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. Minnesota is good at keeping running backs out of the end zone, so quarterback Jay Cutler is going to have to rely on somebody to keep the ball moving and to get points up on the board. That somebody is going to be Jeffery.
Minnesota Vikings
After being virtually shut out by the Seattle Seahawks two weeks ago, running back Adrian Peterson finally found himself back in the end zone last week against the Arizona Cardinals. He rushed the ball 23 times for 69 yards and a touchdown. Make no mistake about it, he was up against an elite defense and the Vikings were playing from behind most of the evening. This week should be a different story for Peterson and his fantasy owners. He rushed for 103 yards on 20 carries against the Bears in Week 3. He should fare well this week given he’s in midseason form now. He wasn’t exactly at his best in the first matchup between these two teams.
Wide receiver Stefon Diggs, on the other hand, has a lot of work to do in order to truly become a dependable, elite wide receiver in fantasy football. He exploded onto the scene in the middle of the season after getting a chance to start, but his yardage totals have dropped in each of the last three weeks. Diggs caught just two passes for 12 yards against the Cardinals despite being targeted seven times last week. He should fare better against Chicago, but seeing him climb over the 100-yard mark and score a touchdown would be a pleasant surprise, even though that kind of output seemed automatic at times this year.
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