In a game which is so dependent upon touchdowns, it's incredibly hard to try to figure out how a fantasy football matchup is going to go when players are healthy. But when there are so many men out of the lineup on both sides as is the case for the San Diego Chargers and the Chicago Bears, the task requires a heck of a lot of thought and discussion.
For the purposes of this article, we're going to match up Jay Cutler and Philip Rivers in this Monday Night Football showdown. The oddsmakers expect there to be points aplenty, knowing that the total opened up at 52. Even though it has since dipped to 49, that's still at least six touchdowns which are expected to be scored.
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The one thing that we know about Rivers is that he's going to put the ball in the air a ton. He's averaging 43.5 attempts per game and is actually on a pace to chuck the rock just under 700 times this year if he stays healthy. He's averaging 26.4 fantasy points per game thanks to all of those passing plays and his 18 touchdowns in eight games.
The bad news about Cutler is that his top Bear receiver is out for the rest of the year. Keenan Allen suffered a lacerated kidney and is now finished for the season, and that takes away 67 receptions and 725 yards. Danny Woodhead is now the team's leading receiver, and no other wide out has more than 24 catches.
Now, it's up to Malcom Floyd and Stevie Johnson at wide receiver. Even the team's backup tight end, Ladarius Green is hurt, and that leaves no margin for error with the aging, yet still productive Antonio Gates.
Perhaps the Chargers will resort back to more of a running game. Melvin Gordon still hasn't scored his first NFL touchdown, something which is bound to come to an end at some point. It's easy to like Rivers because of his gaudy stats, but we know at some point, San Diego is going to have to try to get a ground game going, especially with Allen's season said and done with.
Though we're going to suggest playing against Rivers in this game, Cutler isn't a great sell either. He's notorious for laying massive eggs in primetime, and he's only averaging 19.2 fantasy points per game this year, a low number by starting quarterback standards.
It's not going to help him that Eddie Royal isn't likely to play, while not having Matt Forte as a check down option will be a potential disaster, too.
However, without Forte, it's tough to see Jeremy Langford being called upon all that much as the team's starting tailback. He isn't the same pass catcher that Forte is out of the backfield, but Adam Gase is a creative enough offensive mind to find ways to get the ball in the hands of Alshon Jeffrey in a variety of ways.
The real reason we love Cutler in this battle though, has more to do with the San Diego secondary than anything else. The Chargers were already letting quarterbacks post a 100.9 quarterback rating against them this year, and now, they could be playing without Craig Mager, Eric Weddle, Manti Te'o, Brandon Flowers, Patrick Robinson, Denzel Perryman and Tourek Williams. That’s a whopping seven men who are key cogs in this defense who are dinged up or worse this year. NFL teams usually overcome injuries to any non-quarterbacks with relative ease, but missing this much depth on one side of the ball tends to be catastrophic.
Cutler and Jeffrey have built a great bond with one another, and we suspect that they'll once again have a great day against a beaten up San Diego secondary.
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