Bears Vs Jets Fantasy Football: Start Jay Cutler This Week

Plot twist: as much time as I spend writing pieces that are usually about the teams the Bears face, I don't often pay enough attention to their fantasy implications. But, this game does have some pretty intriguing fantasy implications, so we'll go over some of the Bears options, then turn our attention to the Jets.

Bears

If you have any of the Bears' Prime 5 (Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery, Martellus Bennett, Matt Forte), you could do a lot worse than starting them, but a couple notes to keep in mind.

Matt Forte: The top rushing performance allowed by the Jets is Eddie Lacy's 13 carries for 43 yards. It's only two games, so it's probably not time to bench a top draft pick just yet; however, it's not a very favorable matchup. Catches out of the backfield aren't something the Jets have really contended with this year, and it might be something the Bears would consider employing more to keep the blitz at bay.

Brandon Marshall & Alshon Jeffery: Jeffery didn't look at all right last week, and Marshall's yardage wasn't there, but three touchdowns makes him unbenchable combined with Jordy Nelson's 209-yard performance last week. Jeffery will be able to play too, and those are threats the Jets will likely struggle with.

Martellus Bennett: Bennett's had a touchdown in each game, but the Jets haven't allowed much to tight ends yet. Still certainly startable.

Jay Cutler: The Jets have zero interceptions and have allowed five touchdowns through the air. Cutler's a pretty good matchup here if you don't have a star option.

Jets

Geno Smith: This is an interesting one. Smith's not really had the yardage through the air, but he takes carries and has a rushing touchdown, going against a defense that allowed an EJ Manuel rushing touchdown and 64 rushing yards to Colin Kaepernick.

Chris Johnson & Chris Ivory: The Bears have allowed 5.3 yards per carry this year against two high-volume rushing teams, including 4.7 yards per carry last week against the Niners. Running backs against the Bears' defense are a good start until the Bears' defense gets that YPC even lower. Johnson, Ivory and Smith all split carries (25, 23, and 17 so far on the year, respectively), but Ivory's sitting at 6.3, with 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Eric Decker: He's had 13 targets, the most on the Jets (Chris Johnson has 8), with nine receptions, 137 yards and a touchdown, and he's going to be dealing with a hamstring injury. They'll follow with Jeremy Kerley and David Nelson; Kerley's had eight receptions for 60 yards on the year. I might stay away from any Jets receiving target this week, and in general.

Jeff Cumberland and Jace Amaro: The former Illini Cumberland and draft pick Amaro combined for 8 receptions and 77 yards - Cumberland has 5/64 of that. Again, I'd still stay away from the receiving targets.

Jets D/ST: I wouldn't mind hanging onto the Jets D/ST, since they've picked up six sacks on the year. The points are disconcerting, but you might be able to make up some points on sacks as the year goes. They're owned in only 4% of Yahoo! leagues and outperforming draft picks in my league like Kansas City (.../facepalm) and Indianapolis.