Bears Fantasy Breakdown: Week 9

Don't bank on much against tougher Cardinals defense

By EAMONN BRENNAN

Updated 1:04 PM CST, Fri, Nov 6, 2009

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No one seems to have any idea what to do with Bears-Cardinals in Week 9. Both teams are 4-3, both teams have skilled offensive players, and both teams have been borderline schizophrenic in the first half of the NFL season. Pundits are split. Las Vegas, which has the Bears at -3, is confused.

Fortunately, fantasy football is slightly easier to read. And after two dismal offensive performances in a row -- thanks largely to a horrendous offensive line -- Bears players' owners have little reason to be confident.

Jay Cutler/Stock Falling: Teams seem to be finding ways to get to Cutler. The Bengals had no problem with it, and the lowly Browns, one of the worst defensive lines in the league, terrorized Cutler for three hours last Sunday. The Cardinals are far more proficient than either the Browns or the Bengals at rushing quarterbacks and creating turnovers. If the Bears' lineup plays like it did last week, don't expect much.

Matt Forte/Stock Rising: Now that's better. Forte has struggled all year -- again, thanks, o-line -- but finally broke through last week against the Browns. It wasn't an amazing performance, but 90 yards and two touchdowns put some much-needed fantasy points on the board. But the Cardinals are eighth against the run in 2009; they're not the Browns. Forte is probably still worth a start, but anticipating another pair of touchdowns is too optimistic.

Greg Olsen/Stock Rising: Is Greg Olsen a lost cause? He's certainly not a productive fantasy tight end. Fortunately, the Cardinals have a weird deficiency with tight ends: Vernon Davis, Dallas Clark and Owen Daniels have combined for 18 catches and 161 yards in the last three games against the Cardinals. So stick with Olsen this week, but he's given owners no reason not to look elsewhere.

Johnny Knox, Devin Hester, Earl Bennett/Stock Steady: The opponent changes, but the story stays the same: Knox is a big play touchdown threat, Hester is a steady target, and Bennett is almost nonexistent. If you don't know what you're getting from these three by now, we can't help you.

Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. He is the editor of Yahoo! Sports's college basketball blog The Dagger and a contributor to Inside The Hall. Follow him at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com, or on Twitter.