The Rams and Bears faced off for a Week 7 Monday Night Football bout that featured plenty in the way of defensive stars. The game lived up to that reputation, too, as there were multiple turnovers, including a defensive touchdown.
Not many players stood out from a fantasy football perspective, but there were a few key takeaways from both teams’ performances.
As always, this collection of fantasy reactions will include snap counts for skill players on each team, along with notes on players who saw their fantasy stocks rise or fall during the action.
Chicago Bears at Los Angeles Rams
Winner: WR Josh Reynolds, Los Angeles Rams
This game didn’t feature many offensive fireworks, but Reynolds had his best game of the season. He led the team in targets (8) and hauled in four passes for a team-leading 52 yards and the game’s first touchdown. Early in the season, he was battling with rookie Van Jefferson for playing time, but he’s had a clear hold on the Rams’ third wide receiver spot in recent outings.
This performance probably didn’t help many fantasy managers, and it’s unlikely Reynolds will have many more games where he leads the team in targets. It’s best to leave him on the waiver wire, but it’s still worth honoring his performance.
Loser: RB David Montgomery, Chicago Bears
Ever since Tarik Cohen went down with an injury, Montgomery has been given every opportunity to become the feature back for Chicago. Instead, he consistently failed to top 3.5 yards per carry, and that continued tonight. He ran 14 times for 48 yards and no touchdowns. He also caught the five passes thrown his way but only for 21 yards. Until Chicago finds someone to take some snaps off his plate, Montgomery is frustratingly still a low-end RB2/high end RB3 just because of the number of touches he gets.
Waiver Wire Target: RB Malcolm Brown, Los Angeles Rams
Brown played the same role he’s been playing all season. He’s played a significant number of snaps on first and second down (but not the majority) while also playing the third-down role. That role has value in this Rams offense, and that showed tonight.
Brown ended up recording double-digit carries, which led to 57 yards and a touchdown. He was RB35 coming into the week, so he should move up some after this game. He can be a borderline flex player most weeks. The main concern will be if Cam Akers starts to see more playing time, but to this point, both Brown and Darrell Henderson are largely keeping him on the bench.
Buy Low: WR Allen Robinson II, Chicago Bears
Robinson was only targeted four times in this game, but that was enough for him to lead the Bears in receiving yards with 70. The big reason he had so few targets is that the Rams’ outside cornerbacks have been excellent this season. Coming into tonight, both Jalen Ramsey and Darious Williams were top-20 cornerbacks in terms of PFF grade.
Robinson was leading the league in targets up until this point, so he should return to generating double-digit targets in most games against lesser cornerbacks. Someone might overreact to this bad game or the quarterback play, but he’s been dealing with poor quarterback play his entire NFL career. It’s also worth noting that he was removed from the game late in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a concussion.
