Fantasy football projections, Week 12: Titans-Bears featuring Marcus Mariota, Rishard Matthews, Jordan Howard, more

The Week 12 matchup between the Tennessee Titans and the Chicago Bears features one team challenging for a playoff spot while the other simply plays out the season. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.

Anyone who didn’t consider quarterback Marcus Mariota to be a fantasy starter has to change their tune going into Week 12. Sure the team lost to the Indianapolis Colts last week, but Mariota still put up 290 passing yards and two touchdowns. He’s managed to avoid throwing an interception in four of the last five games and he has 13 touchdown passes compared to just two picks over that same stretch. He’s one of the hottest quarterbacks in the league and should be all over the Bears on Sunday. The only thing hindering his ability to surpass his fantasy projections is that Mariota may give way to the running game in the second half in Chicago.

Hopefully before he has to do that wide receiver Rishard Matthews is able to continue his hot streak and continue delivering value for his fantasy owners, too. Matthews was held out of the end zone for the first time in three weeks against the Colts. The good news is he countered that goose egg with nine catches on 13 targets for a season-high 122 receiving yards. With Mariota playing like a top fantasy quarterback, it’s no surprise that the team’s No. 1 receiver is starting to realize his potential as well. Matthews should find his way back into the end zone at Soldier Field. Fantasy owners would be smart to bet on him surpassing his projections given that he’s on fire right now.

With both Jay Cutler and Brian Hoyer likely done for the season, Matt Barkley will start at quarterback against the Titans. That means coach John Fox and the Bears will rely heavily on running back Jordan Howard for production. That’s especially true with Alshon Jeffery serving a suspension and tight end Zach Miller also out with an injury. Howard rushed the ball 17 times for 77 yards against the New York Giants in Week 11. He also saw seven targets in the passing game. Seeing that kind of volume against the Titans will certainly help him top his projections. The downside of facing Tennessee in Week 12 is that the opponent has been fairly good against the run this year. Still, with no one worth noting in the Bears’ offense outside of maybe Cameron Meredith, Howard is likely to put together some good fantasy numbers this week.

Meredith may not, though he will certainly be targeted a lot by Barkley out of sheer necessity. Since posting back-to-back 100-yard games in mid-October, Meredith has been held to 50 yards receiving or less in each of the last four games. The good news is he caught all four of his targets against the Giants last week and the Bears have no one else to throw to heading into Week 12. It’s impossible to tell whether Meredith will be able to rise above his projections against the Titans. But if the game turns out to be a blowout, as is likely the case, Meredith could be a garbage time superstar for his fantasy owners.