Best lineup strategy for Bears vs. Lions in Showdown

Thanksgiving brings us the storied rivalry between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. These teams have been hitting each other in the face since 1930, but now they thankfully are afforded face masks to deflect all that face-punching.

These two teams met just three weeks ago in Chicago, and the Bears managed to hold off Jeff Driskel to win 20-13 on Mitchell Trubisky’s three touchdown passes. That game gave some hope for Trubisky’s ability to break away from his struggles, but his next two games didn’t show much improvement. He’s now thrown zero touchdowns in five games, one touchdown in two games, two touchdowns in one game, and three touchdowns in two games. Those seven games of one touchdown or less don’t bode well, even against a team he threw three against in Week 10.

Jeff Driskel injured his hamstring last week against Washington and will be replaced by David Blough. Blough was on the Browns preseason roster but didn’t make the team. He’ll now be starting on Thanksgiving day for the Detroit Lions. May Saint

CAPTAIN OBVIOUS

David Montgomery ($8,600)

This matchup doesn’t have a list of stud fantasy players to choose from, so there isn’t a “captain obvious” in this matchup. Montgomery is the player who has the best matchup and usage, though. He has 15 or more touches in five straight games and faces a Lions team that allows the second-most fantasy points to running backs.

Montgomery hasn’t been efficient of late, which brings his price down enough to give him some value in this plus matchup. His upside is 100+ yards and two touchdowns, and we all know his downside.

CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS

Mitchell Trubisky ($9,800)

Trubisky has been awful for most of the season but did throw three touchdown passes against the Lions in Week 10. Detroit might be without Trey Flowers and Rashaan Melvin this week, both keys to stopping Trubisky.

Detroit allows the ninth-most fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, and before they met Dwayne Haskins last week, they had given up 3, 3, 2, 4, 4, 2 touchdown passes to quarterbacks over their previous six games, with one interception.

Trubisky also rushed for his first touchdown of the season last week, which may be a sign that he’s going to look to run a bit more, as he took off seven times for 18 yards and that touchdown. He only had 15 rushing attempts through ten games before tlast week.

FLEX MEN

Anthony Miller ($5,000)

Miller is probably my favorite start in this game, as Taylor Gabriel is in the concussion protocol, and Miller has now seen 20 targets over his last two games, catching 12 of them for 131 yards. After catching seven touchdown passes last season, he’s had none this year and is due. Allen Robinson is the stud of the wide receiver group and will get schemed away from Darius Slay much as he did in Week 10 for a decent 6/86 line, but Slay is good, and when he’s on Robinson, Miller will get work.

Bo Scarbrough ($7,400)

Scarbrough has taken over the lead back position in Detroit with 14 and 18 carries in his last two games. The Bears have given up the third-most rushing touchdowns to running backs this season, and even though I don’t expect a huge yardage game, he has touchdown upside to boost your Showdown team. And with Driskel out, we likely will see a run heavy scheme, even if the team is trailing.

Tarik Cohen ($8,400)

I almost put Cohen in for Captain Courageous consideration, as his usage has received a nice bump of late. He’s seen double-digit touches the last two weeks and has 12 receptions in that span. His value at DraftKings is excellent in full PPR, and the Lions are great at allowing receiving yards to running backs, as they give up the third-most in the league.

Javon Wims ($200)

$200!! Now that’s some savings! Wims should start for Taylor Gabriel, who is in the concussion protocol and does have some big-play appeal. He’s risky, as seen by his 5/56, and 0/0 lines when Gabriel was out for Week 4 and 5, but he’ll get plenty of playing time, and his price is as close to free as it gets.