Chicago Bears - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Jordan Howard or Ty Montgomery?

by Adam Markowitz

9/27/17

NFL

Chicago Bears

Jordan Howard

As we approach Week 4 of the NFL season, there are some good matchups awaiting. One in particular happens to be the oldest rivalry in the NFL, as the Chicago Bears will hit the road to take on the Green Bay Packers. This rivalry dates back to 1921 and the all-time series is tied 94-94-6. Thursday night will be the 195th installment of the rivalry, and each team will be relying heavily on its rushing attack to balance out their respective offenses.

Jordan Howard had an outstanding Week 3 with 29.9 Dober Fantasy Points and is projected to cool off a bit with 13 Projected Fantasy Points against a Packers defense that ranked No. 24 in the NFL against running backs heading into Week 3. Ty Montgomery finished Week 3 with 9 DFP and is projected to have a better Week 4 with 14.5 PFP against a Bears defense that ranks No. 13 against opposing backfields.

Fantasy Matchup: Jordan Howard (13.0 PFP) vs. Ty Montgomery (14.5 PFP)

Despite having opposite outputs in Week 3, Montgomery is the slight chalk over Howard in the first of two 2017 matchups between these squads. He’ll be spotting Howard a small margin of 1.5 points, so choose carefully when picking your top three players in your Dober fantasy lineups this week.

Howard had a fantastic Week 3 against a Pittsburgh Steelers defense that entered the matchup ranked a respectable No. 11 against fantasy running backs. He lit them up for 138 yards and two touchdowns, though he wasn’t a huge factor through the air in accumulating just 26 receiving yards.

In his rookie year against Green Bay last season, Howard went for 112 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He will be opposing a Packers defense that struggled against the run versus the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 3. They allowed 110 rushing yards while the Bears ran all over the Steelers defense for 220. If Howard can replicate his Week 3 performance against a shaky Packers run defense, I like his chances and is definitely a must-start in your Dober fantasy lineups.

The Bears were pedestrian at best rushing the ball heading into Week 3 but had a very good performance against the Steelers. Howard will look to continue that improvement against a Packers defense that could be lenient.

Meanwhile, Montgomery has had a consistent season out of the backfield for the Packers. However, the No. 3 running back in fantasy didn’t perform to his potential against the Bengals, as he ran for 35 yards for a Green Bay rushing attack that was very inept the entire game. Its ground game ranked No. 25 after the first two weeks and definitely didn’t improve in Week 3. The Bears rush defense was impressive, meanwhile, allowing only 70 yards and a touchdown to the Steelers.

On paper, Montgomery looks overmatched by his counterpart. If I had to choose one to put in my Dober lineup for Week 4, I’d go with Howard based on his recent performances and past efforts against the Packers.

Week 4 Fantasy Projection: Jordan Howard (+1.5) vs. Ty Montgomery