Bears' defense in for long night against Vikings according to Fantasy Football experts

Aaron Jones is going to pile up stats and the Minnesota Vikings' defense will feast on Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears Monday night at Soldier Field. Hey, that's not us talking. It's the analytics geniuses over at Bleacher Report.

In the 2025 NFL season debut of B/R's popular "Start 'Em or Sit 'Em" feature, the site this week is urging Fantasy Football owners to favor the Vikings over the Bears. Such as ... sitting Dennis Allen's defense despite playing against a quarterback making his first NFL start in primetime.

"Yes, J.J. McCarthy is making his first NFL start in Week 1. And the Bears were quietly a top-10 fantasy defense a year ago," B/R writes. "But the Vikings are loaded at the skill positions—there are far better matchup plays available to open regular the season."

Even worse, B/R is advising owners to start the Vikings' defense, even though it's going against new head coach Ben Johnson and his innovative offense.

Writes the site: "The Vikings had issues on defense last year, especially against the pass. But they were second in the NFC in sacks with 49, and the Bears led the league in sacks allowed last season with a whopping 68."

As if that wasn't enough disrespect, B/R also predicts Jones will have a big game.

"There has been more than a little concern about how much Jordan Mason will eat into Jones' 2025 workload after he finished 12th in PPR points among running backs/" they write. " But the Vikings will lean on the ground game in J.J. McCarthy's first regular-season start against a Bears defense that surrendered the fifth-most rushing yards per game in the NFL in 2024."

All that sounds ominous for the Bears. But take it with a grain of salt. The same site suggesting "sitting" Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes Friday night against the Chargers. Kelce caught a 37-yard touchdown pass and Mahomes produced 315 yards of total offense and two touchdowns.