The Chicago Bears are coming off of a tough loss and after Brandon Marshall had a post-game outburst about Jay Cutler, the two have said that they are fine and now fantasy football owners are looking to start Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Matt Forte and Martellus Bennett in Week 8, as the Bears expect to have a bounce back game against the New England Patriots.
Marshall and the Bears were very frustrated after their loss to the Miami Dolphins this past week and while they have a tough trip against the Patriots in Week 8, Marshall said he is expecting a much better performance. According to Pro Football Talk, Marshall said that Cutler and him are fine after his criticism last week and that the two are like brothers and that at times they can go at it. Marshall has not been on the same pace fantasy wise that he was last season, but he should be in line for some major targets after the way things went down this weekend.
While the Patriots have played very well since losing to the Chiefs on Monday night football, expect a good fight from the Bears and the offense has a chance to put up some solid numbers. Jeffery and Forte should be very solid start options, while Bennett can take advantage of some mismatches with linebackers for the Patriots and he could be the best target for Cutler in the redzone. The Bears have talent on offense that's as good as anyone and that is one reason why Marshall and the fans were frustrated last week against a subpar Miami Dolphins team that was playing without their number one RB.
Marshall comes in as one of the top drafted players in fantasy and while he has some solid numbers this season, he is not producing like last year. Marshall has 31 catches for 349 yards and five scores this season and he comes in after putting up triple digit catches in each of the past two seasons. Marshall had six catches for 48 yards in the game against Miami and he ended with 10 targets, but most of that game in the second half. Marshall had the chance to score a TD close to the end of the game, but the Dolphins broke it up.
Coming from last season Marshall had 100 catches for 1295 yards and 12 scores and the year before that he was nasty with 118 catches for 1508 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Bears. Marshall will be involved in the offense heavily and fantasy owners are hoping for a breakout game. Jeffery is a strong start option as well, as both him and Marshall will have height advantages over the small cornerbacks for the Patriots. This season Jeffery has 33 catches for 504 yards and two scores and he is looking to get things going as well. Last season Jeffery had 89 catches for over 1400 yards and he was one of the most valuable options at WR.
Matt Forte also should have the chance to have a big game against the Patriots, as he comes in after putting up 49 rushing yards and six catches for 60 yards last week. This season Forte already has 448 rushing yards along with 52 catches for 436 yards and he has been one of the most productive players in fantasy.