One of the NFL's great rivalries gets another chapter on Sunday night as the Green Bay Packers host the Chicago Bears.
On NFL odds, the Packers are 12.0-point favorites in a game with a 43.0-point total. That makes the implied score 27.50-15.50 in favor of Green Bay.
For those unfamiliar, single-game slates feature five flex spots with identical scoring to the main slate. However, kickers are included in these contests, and there is an "MVP" roster slot. The MVP receives 1.5-times his total fantasy points, making this spot crucial.
Our Brandon Gdula has done a deep dive on single-game strategy, and we have projections for the single-game slate if you select the game from the slate tab. It's worth checking out both of those things before you make your lineups.
MVP Candidates
Going by our projections, there are two players in their own tier for this slate -- Aaron Rodgers ($1 6,000 on FanDuel) and Davante Adams ($14,500). Our model projects Rodgers for 20.2 FanDuel points and Adams for 18.1. You can make a very strong MVP case for either.
Rodgers is averaging 20.8 FanDuel points per game for the year and scored 23.7 at Soldier Field earlier this season, although that output was boosted by a rushing score. He's coming off games of games of 33.50 and 26.28 FanDuel points over his last two.
As for Adams, he's produced double-digit FanDuel points in six of his last seven games. He's notched back-to-back efforts of 100-plus yards, including scoring two touchdowns at the Minnesota Vikings two weeks ago. Adams racked up four grabs for 89 yards in the first meeting with Chicago, and he probably won't see as much MVP love as Rodgers does.
Aaron Jones ($13,000) returned before the Packers' bye and played 49% of the snaps while A.J. Dillon ($11,000) logged a 51% snap rate. Using Jones at MVP is taking a leap of faith that he'll return to his pre-injury role, which typically resulted in a snap rate around 60% to 70%. We project Jones and Dillon for 14.8 and 10.6 FanDuel points, respectively. Jones is a fun weird-but-not-that-weird MVP pick.
On the Bears side, it's hard to get excited about using anyone at MVP, but any quarterback who isn't going to be all that popular of an MVP choice at least intrigues me. Justin Fields ($14,000) fits that mold, and our projections have him posting a solid 15.1 FanDuel points. The floor is ugly -- as we've seen this season -- but his rushing ability gives him a decent ceiling. He could hit as a contrarian MVP option if he busts a few runs and the Packers' offense sputters.
Flex Breakdown
Among the players we haven't discussed, David Montgomery ($12,000) is the best flex play. He doesn't carry an injury designation after some concerns early in the week. The role is really good. He's played at least 84% of the snaps in three of four games since returning from injury, and he's amassed 20 and 29 total touches in his last two games. The matchup isn't great, but the volume makes Montgomery the one bankable fantasy asset on the Bears.
Allen Robinson ($9,000) is expected back. A-Rob doesn't have more than 9.4 FanDuel points in a game this year, so more than anything, his return takes some of the shine away from Darnell Mooney ($10,000), who has emerged as a legit weapon in Robinson's absence the last three games, totaling 29 targets in that span with games of 121 and 123 yards. Even with A-Rob back, Mooney is a justifiable play, and he works as a run-back piece if you're loading up on Green Bay.
For the Packers, the loss of Randall Cobb should open up more looks for Allen Lazard ($7,000) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling ($8,500). MVS' big-play prowess is ideal for single-game slates, and Lazard typically plays a good amount of snaps, being in on at least 65% of plays in every contest but one among the games for which he's suited up. Our algorithm has MVS (8.3 FanDuel points) and Lazard (7.1) as fine value targets.
Kickers make the most sense in games that are projected to be low-scoring affairs, per Brandon Gdula's single-game study, which is linked in the intro. The over/under is only 43.0, so that puts the kickers in play. We project Mason Crosby ($9,500) as the better choice between the two kickers. The issue is Crosby hasn't been all that good this year, including going 5 for 8 on field-goal tries over the past three games, and this clash being outdoors doesn't help.