Football is back for Chicago Bears fans after the team’s week-long hiatus, otherwise known as the bye week.
After scorching the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 4, there are some new players on my list that thrust themselves into the weekly fantasy discussion. The Bears’ offense continues to improve every week and their defense has been dominant all season.
Buckle up, there’s a lot of Bears fantasy football to talk about.
The Chicago Bears take on the Miami Dolphins this Sunday in a matchup that could be a coin flip between a blowout and a game that comes down to the wire. Like every week, the performance of this offense relies solely on Mitchell Trubisky, who went into the bye week after a confidence-boosting, six-touchdown performance against the Buccaneers and should have plenty of help from the Bears’ defense against the Dolphins.
Let’s get into my Week 6 fantasy predictions.
Mitchell Trubisky
Trubisky already confirmed in a press conference on Wednesday that he will once again wear an arm sleeve in the Bears’ Week 6 matchup.
Six touchdowns, guaranteed. You heard it here first. ?
All jokes aside, the second-year quarterback had a huge game against Tampa Bay and walks out of a bye week presumably with more confidence than ever under Matt Nagy. While the signal caller steadily improves, I doubt he is a week-to-week fantasy starter, especially against the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have forced a league-high 10 interceptions in their first five games this season. If that trend continues, it may be hard for Trubisky to get the ball rolling as he did in Week 4. Trubisky certainly needs to stay on the bench this week in fantasy football, and should only see a starting spot on your roster in extremely favorable matchups.
Fantasy Prediction:
278 yards passing, 1 TD, 1 INT
36 yards rushing
Tarik Cohen
Tarik Cohen is the second player on this Bears team that exploded in Week 4. He out-touched Jordan Howard 20-11, accumulating 174 total yards and a touchdown. Nagy loves Cohen in this offense and is clever in the way he positions him in various formations.
He’s a playmaker with the ball in his hands and faces a Dolphins defense who has been gashed by pass-catching running backs this year. Over the course of the season, Miami has allowed an average of 31.44 points per game in PPR leagues. Not to mention the Dolphins have given up a receiving touchdown running backs in three of the last four games.
If Cohen out-touches Howard again, he should earn the bulk of that average thanks to his proficiency in the passing game. He is definitely worth a flex play.
Fantasy Prediction:
48 rushing yards
Six receptions, 64 yards, 1 TD
Jordan Howard
Howard has been extremely disappointing this season, no thanks to the Bears’ overhauled passing offense. The starting running back has seen work in the passing game but has failed to find a rhythm running the football. He has averaged 2.5 yards per carry or less in the last three games and his receptions have slowly decreased over the course of the season.
It’s easy to panic at Howard’s lack of involvement, but on the bright side, the Bears have a favorable matchup on the ground against the Dolphins. Miami has given up 160.6 total yards per game to opposing running backs and seven total touchdowns. Given a positive game script, the Bears’ running back could get back on track this week.
Fantasy prediction:
74 rushing yards, 1 TD
Two receptions, 16 yards
Taylor Gabriel
Against the Buccaneers, it was supposed to be Allen Robinson’s time to shine. Instead, it was the other free agent wide receiver that boasted a huge fantasy performance. Gabriel saw a season-high seven catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns en route to a brutal beatdown of the Buccaneers’ secondary.
Gabriel has steadily seen his production increase as the season has progressed and had been targeted at least seven times in each of the last three games. While the Dolphins have a stout secondary that excels in taking the ball away, they have allowed a lot of yards to opposing receivers. Should cornerback Xavien Howard take the challenge of covering Robinson, Gabriel may be in for a sneaky good outing.
Fantasy Prediction:
Six catches, 74 yards
Allen Robinson
Robinson is yet another Bears player that is having a quiet year. He finally found the end zone before the bye week but only recorded two catches for 24 yards. The matchup this week doesn’t get any easier, which may leave the team’s leading receiver touchdown dependent.
Robinson is certainly the most talented pass-catcher on the roster, but he will need a lot of volume to be a viable option this week. The Dolphins have only allowed two 100-yard games to opposing receivers, but both of those games came to players who only caught six passes (Jordy Nelson and AJ Green). While Robinson surely has deep, jump-ball ability, I feel reluctant to start confidently as a WR2 this week.
Fantasy Prediction:
Five receptions, 67 yards
Defense
As always this Bears’ defense is a must-start in fantasy football. The Dolphins come into the week 30th in yards per game and 28th in points per game. This defense should feast against the Dolphins’ horrid offense that may be without three starting offensive linemen, while the Bears have allowed only 64 yards rushing per game this season.
I find it hard to believe that Miami gets anything going against Chicago this week. Start the defense.
Fantasy Prediction:
278 yards allowed, 13 points allowed, one takeaway
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