The Chicago Bears welcome the New Orleans Saints this week in a fascinating NFC matchup. The Bears are in need of a boost after losing quite convincingly to the Rams on Monday Night Football. The Saints beat the Carolina Panthers in what was as unimpressive a divisional win I’ve seen.
The Saints are in a strange spot. They could be without their star receiver going forward and the offense looks confused and flappable without him. They continually rely on Alvin Kamara to bail them out and don’t look to be the typical Saints. They’re going to be forced to re-invent themselves on the fly without Michael Thomas, and Kamara’s influence on that cannot be understated.
In the Bears loss to the Rams they were exposed offensively. They only had 49 yards on the ground and forced Nick Foles to play a more attacking role than you’d like him to play as a Bears fan. He looked uncomfortable in the pocket and forced throws because he had too.
TV Info
Date: Sunday, Nov. 1
Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
Channel: FOX
Broadcast map
Notable Statistical rankings (Football Outsiders)
Saints: #6 overall — 7th offense, 10th defense, 7th special teams
Bears: #17 overall — 26th offense, 6th defense, 19th special teams
DraftKings Sportsbook odds
Saints: -4.5, -225
Bears: +4.5, +195
Total: 43
Fantasy football start/sit advice
Saints
Alvin Kamara, RB, $8,200
You might be sitting there thinking that the Bears defense is so solid you shoudl think about benching Kamara. Perhaps you have really good options at the position and you’re tempted to overthink things. Don’t. Even before Micheal Thomas went out, Kamara was a must start. Now, you’d be insane to bench him.
Drew Brees, QB, $6,300
The Bears have a really good passing defense. Drew Brees has been consistent this year, but not looked like himself. You may want to look at other options at the QB position this week.
Bears
Allen Robinson II, WR, $7,000
Robinson’s productivity has taken a dip in recent weeks, and yet he’s still put up decent numbers. Foles likely won’t go two weeks with such poor passing productivity. Even when Foles is inconsistent, Robinson isn’t. Always worth a start.
David Montgomery, RB, $5,900
The productivity out of the Bears running game just isn’t there right now. You might be tempted to throw Montgomery out there while Foles and the passing game figure itself out, don’t succumb to the temptation. Montgomery’s prodcution just isn’t what it needs to be despite being a positive in the passing game.