With Jay Cutler back, Alshon Jeffery is a must-play in fantasy

Sam Bradford was sacked six times against his former team playing behind a struggling offensive line, and the Vikings became the last team in the National Football League to lose a game this season, falling 21-10. Minnesota, coming off their first loss of the season, will travel down to Chicago to take on a one-win Bears squad that is in the midst of a disappointing season.

The Vikings’ offensive line is coming off a brutal effort last week in Philadelphia, as LT T.J. Clemmings and RT Jeremiah Sirles are injury replacements who were repeatedly a step slow. Quarterback Jay Cutler is returning for the Bears, having suffered a thumb injury in Week 2, and Minnesota was just defeated soundly by the Philadelphia Eagles. Ronnie Hillman, a member of Denver’s Super Bowl-winning team last season, saw his first action against the Eagles.

McPhee always talks a big game, and you wouldn’t blame anyone for rolling their eyes as he explained Friday how the second half of the season will turn for the defense partly because God worked a miracle on his body. Granted the Bears have been riddled with injuries in all phases. Hoyer’s on injured reserve with a broken arm, Matt Barkley isn’t ready for prime time and the organization has failed to draft or develop another option.

A number of dinged-up Vikings have been included in the injury report this week with either limited or no practice participation. They’re top five in about everything.

The Bears listed cornerback Bryce Callahan (hamstring) as questionable despite his absence from all three practices.

“A lot of them were just mental mistakes”. The Broncos ranked near the bottom-10 of the league in sacks, next to dead last in interceptions, last in forced fumbles, and allowed opponents to score a whopping 28.0 points per game.

Perhaps the most frustrating loss came in Week 5 against Indianapolis. “We just want to win football games”. They lost at the Indianapolis Colts and Packers as well as at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars. In his first action after being signed October 11 by Minnesota, Long got in for 13 first-half plays and was beaten twice for strip sacks that resulted in quarterback Sam Bradford losing fumbles.

Last week, the Bears opened the Week 7 schedule and the same scenario played out. Then again, he is up against one of the best secondary units in all of football.

We’ll never know if Cutler would have actually backed up Hoyer, but the only reason we’re talking about it is because his head coach didn’t publicly back him when he had the chance – twice. Bears WR Cameron Meredith has nine-plus receptions in two of the past three games. Nobody can survive dropping to 1-7 and expect to make the playoffs – even if they run the table. Fox responded by saying there’s “absolutely no truth to that”, which is an answer Bears fans should hope is true.

If Jeffery can finish the season strong, it’s a no-brainer for the Bears to work to sign him to a long-term extension.

The Bears’ highest-paid defensive player hasn’t proven anything this season, and it has been nearly a year since he was healthy and disruptive for a Bears defense in need of his talent. The reality is that the Bears are dead last in points per game (15.9) and went 1-4 in Hoyer’s five starts. With Cutler back, Jeffery should be able to put up a big game against the Vikings.