Bear Digest

Bears and Colts: Fantasy Football Favorites and NFL Best Bets

A look at the top fantasy football players to sit and start in Sunday's Bears and Colts game as well as the Week 3 picks around the league and power plays.

Gene Chamberlain

Tyrique Stevenson delivers a jolt after allowing a completion by the Colts in a preseason game last year.
Tyrique Stevenson delivers a jolt after allowing a completion by the Colts in a preseason game last year. / Jenna Watson/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK
In this story:

The fantasy football owner who sits frustrated because he or she drafted DJ Moore or Keenan Allen, or even was foolish enough to base their season's success on drafting Caleb Williams, can be easily detected by the pouty droop to their lips these days.

Finally realizing what a rookie quarterback can mean in fantasy ball—especially early in their first season—is a difficult thing to accept.

There could be good news ahead this week for those who have Bears players on their fantasy teams with the game in Indianapolis. The Colts haven't exactly been stalwart defenders of the run or the pass but especially the run. Their pass coverage and rush deficiencies so far have been hidden by their incompetency at stopping the run.

This week SI.com fantasy expert Michael Fabiano has DJ Moore among his "WRs With Good Matchups," right there with Pittsburgh's George Pickens against the Chargers and Cleveland's Amari Cooper against the Giants.

It's a legitimate ranking but not because Moore showed great frustration Sunday night or because anyone is due to break out, or even because Williams is getting more in tune with what's needed.

It's just, Moore rarely goes more than two games in succession without being a greatly impactful player and it hasn't mattered who his quarterback is.

https://www.si.com/fantasy/wide-receiver-start-em-sit-em-picks-fantasy-football-week-3-01j80hfby1vk

It's easy to see how Moore would rate a good matchup against the Colts. There are two ways it can happen.

One is they execute the game plan perfectly with the running game and big plays downfield develop, or catch-and-run opportunities develop. The other is they get behind and must play catch-up with Moore obviously playing a big role.

The lack of Bears targets now because of Keenan Allen's injury and also Rome Odunze playing with a knee injury means Moore almost wins out of process of elimination.

There are others who figure to be bigger point producers this week in Colts and Bears in a noon game at Indianapolis. Here are the top fantasy plays of the week from the game.

Start 'Em

1. Bears WR DJ Moore

Even if the Bears do get the running game going, Moore's frustration last week most likely will have had Williams' attention and he'll be a bit more DJ-focused. The current two-game stretch of 89 yards is the second worst two-game yardage output he has had with the Bears and when he had 70 yards last year it was when he was injured but he broke out of it in the next game with a 159-yard effort against the Falcons.

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2. Bears RB D'Andre Swift

The 48 yards so far do not represent the first cold stretch in Swift's career. He had several worse with the Lions and last year had one almost as bad against the 49ers and Cowboys with 52 total yards. But breakout time looms against a defense that allowed 11 runs of 13 yards or longer in two weeks.

3. Colts RB Jonathan Taylor

The Bears are only 15th in yards allowed per rushing attempt and their first two opponents gave up on trying to hurt them this way once they had been stopped a few drives. Shane Steichen might be a little more interested in giving Taylor more carries after had let Taylor carry only 12 times last week and he gained 103 yards. Taylor is averaging 5.4 yards per carry on this season and Steichen will get him more attempts to try and set up the run. He'll also be able to afford to give Taylor more carries because the Bears' offense isn't at a level where its dominance over any defense can be assumed.

4. Colts WR Alec Pierce

The Bears most certainly will put Jaylon Johnson on Michael Pittman all over the field. Pierce is capable of doing damage, whether it's on Tyrique Stevenson's side or against Kyler Gordon in the slot. He also is fast enough to get open deep against Jaquan Brisker or Kevin Byard.

5. Bears TE Cole Kmet

Williams first caught on to the fact he has a capable tight end in the middle of last week's game. They still haven't found a way to hurt teams much with tight ends yet but it's coming and Kmet will be sure to get his touches.

6. Colts WR Michael Pittman

Even if he is blanketed much of the day by Johnson, Pittman will find away to get loose for a few catches and possibly even some downfield against the cover-2 between Johnson and safety Kevin Byard or safety Jaquan Brisker.

7. Bears K Cairo Santos

He's off to another great start, 5-for-5 including 3-for-3 50 yards and longer, and gets the benefit of kicking indoors again. They'll probably lean on him again, as they've been doing, because of Williams' inability to get them into the end zone.

Sit 'Em

1. Bears WR Rome Odunze

He's still trying to comeback from that knee sprain and now he has to worry about his father's social media wars with Dan Orlovsky. He's not there yet physically or mentally enough in the offense to base any potential success on him.

2. Colts TE Kylen Granson

The Colts have had a horrible time trying to establish the tight ends as receivers within the offense, but Granson showed promise with 30-plus catches in 2022 and 2023. He's just not a player at a level where he'd appear on any fantasy owner radar.

3. Bears TE Gerald Everett

If someone had him as a reserve and an injury had hit their tight end group, Everett would be worth a play because the move tight end can be a huge asset against cover-3 defenses like the Colts use. And the Bears could look to him as a target in the middle of the field. But because he has barely been used in the first two games it doesn't seem they have enough designs on getting him involved or Williams can't seem to find him.

4. Bears QB Caleb Williams

The first two weeks showed how far he has to go. Before he moves up anyone's list in fantasy ball, he'll need to prove he's made it there.

5. Colts QB Anthony Richardson

A very disappointing start for a player so many were convinced would be a smash hit this year because he had some nice plays in four games last year. That wasn't a big enough sample size to assume anything last year and if they had looked past the few sparkle plays they'd have seen faults. He could always break out, because of his knack for scrambling out and making plays with his legs, but doing that against a zone-based defense in one-gap responsibilities up front is not easy because they're eye-balling the QB all the time.

The Betting Window

Bears On SI Record in Bears games: 2-0 straight up, 1-1 ATS, 2-0 over/under

Bears On SI Pick: Colts 23, Bears 19

Last Week Around the NFL: 9-8 Straight Up, 9-8 ATS*

*Total includes previous Thursday night game

Around the NFL to Date: 19-12 Straight Up, 16-15 ATS

Power Plays Last Week: 2-2

Power Plays to Date: 4-4

This Week's NFL Picks:

  • Browns 17, Giants 13
  • Texans 21, Vikings 17
  • Eagles 20, Saints 17 (Power play)
  • Chargers 20, Steelers 13 (Power play)
  • Buccaneers 24, Broncos 17
  • Titans 27, Packers 20
  • Raiders 23, Panthers 20
  • Seahawks 26, Dolphins 20
  • Lions 31, Cardinals 27 (Power play)
  • Ravens 19, Cowboys 17
  • Rams 24, 49ers 20
  • Chiefs 30, Falcons 22
  • Bills 27, Jaguars 20
  • Bengals 28, Commanders 23 (Power play)
  • Cowboys 31, Giants 23**

**Week 4, Thursday night game

-Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

-If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER

Twitter: BearsOnSI

Published
Gene Chamberlain

GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.