Start’em or Sit’em in Fantasy Football: Bears v. 49ers |
Ariana Pensy
· · 2 hours ago
CHICAGO - If you are fortunate enough to still be playing meaningful fantasy football, you are probably in the championship. While illness is a problem this time of year, luckily for fantasy owners, it has not affected the offensive side of the ball.
Caleb Williams - Start Chicago’s game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sun. Dec. 28 (7:20 p.m. / NBC) is actually a great matchup for the fantasy football championship. Williams is coming off a game with 250 passing yards and two touchdowns, and is the No. 9 quarterback in fantasy according to ESPN. San Francisco tends to give up a lot of touchdowns, as it has allowed the sixth-most to opposing quarterbacks. He probably will not have a lot of rushing yards, but he will put up solid numbers to propel you to a championship. Also, Williams is getting one of his top weapons, wide receiver Luther Burden III, back this week. Luther Burden III - Start in PPR Leagues Burden III missed last week against the Green Bay Packers due to injury. However, the week before that, he played while top receiver Rome Odunze was out (heel) and put up 6 receptions for 84 yards against a defense that is statistically more difficult, the Cleveland Browns. However, they are in the middle of the pack when it comes to giving up touchdowns to wide receivers. Burden III may get a decent number of receptions that will pay off in PPR leagues, but he may not get in the end zone, which would potentially not be worth starting him in non-PPR leagues. DJ Moore - Sit? After his spectacular game-winning touchdown, should he really be benched? There are two things that point to benching him - Burden III is back and his history against San Francisco. Burden III being back will take targets away from Moore, who had only five against the Browns when Burden III was available. However, he also has a history of mediocre performances against the 49ers. In his three times playing San Francisco, Moore has never scored a touchdown or had more than 60 receiving yards. That does not bode well for fantasy, especially in the championship. If you have a more reliable option, Moore might go back on the bench. Colston Loveland - Start Tight ends are hard to figure out this season, but what is not hard to figure out is that Williams likes throwing the ball to Loveland. He has five targets in each of the past three games and four total touchdowns this season. Loveland tends to take advantage of defenses that struggle to keep tight ends out of the end zone. San Francisco is one of those teams. They have allowed the fifth-most touchdowns to tight ends out of any team in the league. Two of the only teams to allow more touchdowns are the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers; Loveland scored against both. Especially with the stakes this week in fantasy and how volatile fantasy production can be, Loveland should be in your starting lineup this week. D’Andre Swift - Sit After his two-touchdown performance against the Cleveland Browns, Swift failed to score against the Green Bay Packers. In the three times Swift has faced the 49ers, he has only managed to put up 90 yards and only has one touchdown. Rookie running back Kyle Monangai is still cutting into his production as Monangai had nine attempts last week compared to Swift’s 13. Monangai has also done quite well with 5.6 yards per attempt against Green Bay and 4.7 yards per attempt on the season. When it is such an important time during the fantasy season, Swift should remain on the bench.
