We wrap up Week 1 with a matchup between a pair of division rivals, the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears. It’s another division rivalry game in primetime with plenty of narratives and storylines ahead of this game. Week 1 has had its up’s and down’s especially for some elite pass catchers from around the NFL. Let’s see if the star power in this game can deliver as we dig into the NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook; Vikings vs. Bears Game Preview

We close out the first week of the 2025 NFL season with a matchup straight out of the NFC North. Last night’s NFL DFS Showdown Playbook was rather straight forward and we didn’t see too many changes on either roster.

For this NFC North matchup on Monday Night Football, we’re getting the debut of Ben Johnson as the head coach of the Chicago Bears. He leaves after spending the last few seasons as the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions and the Lions surely missed his play calling yesterday. Overall, it was a rough day for OC’s all around the league. Johnson takes over for the Bears and the team has upgraded as much as it can to turn Caleb Williams into a winner.

For Minnesota, they’re looking to right the ship after they had an outstanding season in 2024. They finished 14-3 but lost over Wild Card Weekend to the Los Angeles Rams after the Vikings were only able to put up nine points. This was one of the hottest teams in the NFL a year ago. Kevin O’Connell worked his magic once again and turned the career of Sam Darnold around, who is now with the Seattle Seahawks. We have plenty of matchups, injuries, and narratives to consider for this matchup so let’s take a look at the top plays, props, and lineup building strategies for this week’s NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook.

 

 

 

Vikings vs. Rams Notable Injuries & Inactives

The Minnesota Vikings elite pass rush will be a bit short-handed. Elijah Williams has been ruled out which impacts their depth on the defensive line a bit. Additionally, Harrison Smith is doubtful with an illness. Andrew Van Ginkel is questionable with a neck injury but he was a full participant in the latest practice session and it appears as if Christian Darrisaw is questionable as well. He only appeared in four games last year. His absence would really downgrade Minnesota’s offensive line.

The Bears have a few noteworthy players on the injury report. Running back Roschon Johnson is questionable with a foot injury. More importantly, star defensive back Jaylon Johnson is questionable after logging limited participations in practice last week. He’s dealing with a calf/groin injury.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Showdown MVP/Captain for Monday Night Football, 9/8

Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings - DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $15,500

Jetta is not listed on the injury list for Monday night’s game which is great news because if he can manage five receptions tonight against the Bears he’ll become the youngest receiver to reach 500 in his career.

Coming into the season there were once again concerns about the quality of quarterback the Vikings would have but they made due in previous years. Kevin O’Connell is one of the better offensive minds in the NFL so let’s at least give him the benefit of the doubt before we make judgments about J.J. McCarthy.

The bigger concern should be the potential shadow coverage JJ sees against Jaylon Johnson, whose status is up in the air. In Week 12 last year, Jefferson was held to just two receptions. And when these two teams met again in Week 15, Jetta had a better game as he posted 7-73-1 and he did see 14 targets.

It’s been a weird Week 1 for WR1’s but I’m entering this matchup assuming he’ll see plenty of targets and we know he has the upside to break the slate.

DJ Moore, WR, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $9,600 | FanDuel: $10,200

If there’s one player on Chicago I feel pretty good about, it’s DJ Moore and he gets a great matchup against Minnesota’s horrendous secondary. Moore has some of the best hands in the NFL evidenced by the 15 catches and targets he had when these two teams met in Weeks 12 and 15 last year. He combined for 152 yards, a touchdown, and 37 rushing yards.

According to Fantasy Points Data, Moore had the most designed targets in the NFL last year (41) and it was by a pretty wide margin. Khalil Shakir was second with 26 and those designed targets accounted for 5.1 fantasy points per game which only elevated his floor every week.

If you’re weary of utilizing Moore in DFS, I do think you can take the over on his reception props especially if you can find a line at 4.5 but 5.5 will do just fine as well. Moore has recorded 5+ receptions against Minnesota in five straight games and the Vikings allowed the most receptions to opposing receivers last year. 

Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $8,000

Odunze’s a bit of an unknown for this year because the Bears did use significant draft capital to draft Colston Loveland and Luther Burden. However, Odunze was still a top 10 draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and he draws similar comparisons to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

Both were held back by Shane Waldron in their rookie years and we’ve seen all too often that he’s not a great NFL coordinator as he lacked creativity and has his receivers were running very boring routes. But still, he’s coming off a rookie season where he did draw 100+ targets and is entering this game as the WR2 in Chicago.

We just touched on how bad the Minnesota secondary is so we’ll be able to find value in Chicago’s receivers. Given how much Minnesota is going to blitz in this matchup, I’m rather high on the pass catchers for Chicago if Caleb Williams can limit the mistakes.

D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $8,800 | FanDuel: $9,400

I’m personally not a huge D’Andre Swift fan. But I am a bit misguided because he was so inefficient last year and was a better floor play for fantasy football and DFS. But Johnson and Swift reunite in Chicago which means there’s optimism for Swift.

In 2021 and 2022 (when Johnson was the passing game coordinator and then the offensive coordinator for Detroit), Swift totaled 110 receptions for 841 yards and five touchdowns. And Swift also missed seven games in that span.

We know Johnson loves getting his running backs involved in the passing game as we saw it with Jahmyr Gibbs last season. And with that heavy blitz maybe Johnson and Williams dial up more screen passes to Swift. But we also shouldn’t overlook the offensive line upgrades the Bears made. That may help Swift improve his efficiency.

 

 

 

Mid-Tier & DFS Value Plays for Monday

Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $9,200 | FanDuel: $12,600

We finally get our first look at Caleb Williams with a good offensive mind calling the shots on offense. There are no excuses for Williams anymore. The organization has beefed up the offensive line, they’ve given him weapons on offense, and they brought in the top head coaching candidate in Ben Johnson. He needs to make significant strides this year.

One thing they were really focusing on last year was getting Caleb to average 70% completions. That was a goal every day in camp. In his rookie season he only completed 62.5% of his pass attempts and that rate dipped below 60 when the Bears played on the road.

He was pretty impressive when these teams met in Week 12 last year. He completed 32-of-47 pass attempts for 340 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 33 yards. It would be outstanding to see him develop the confidence to run more. In this matchup that may be helpful because the Vikings blitz at a very high rate with Brian Flores as their defensive coordinator.

Aaron Jones, RB, Minnesota Vikings – DraftKings: $7,400 | FanDuel: $10,400

Jordan Mason, RB, Minnesota Vikings – DraftKings: $7,000 | FanDuel: $5,800

We’re about to get our first look at how the backfield for Minnesota will shake out in 2025. Jones did stay healthy and finished with 1,186 rushing yards along with 420 receiving yards (on 54 receptions) with seven total touchdowns.

With McCarthy making his first start it’s possible the Vikings don’t want to put too much on his plate in his first game. That potentially means a run-heavy attack for Minnesota. Kevin O’Connell has said this backfield will operate as a 1A and 1B situation with Jones likely handling most of the snaps. But that price on FanDuel is so tempting for Mason.

The Vikings run a lot of zone schemes. Nearly half (49%) of their rush attempts last year were zone concepts and Mason averaged 4.93 yards per carry on zone concepts with the 49ers last year. The Bears also didn’t stop the run last year. They allowed 4.8 yards per carry and 1.65 yards before contact. Those both rank in the bottom quarter of the NFL. I’m going to lean toward Jones for Week 1 but do not shy away from playing Mason in some lineups.

T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings – DraftKings: $6,600 | FanDuel: $8,400

It’s quite possible Hockenson could operate as the team’s second pass catcher Monday night. Jordan Addison is suspended and Adam Thielen may not play a full complimentary of snaps. Hock missed the first half of last season as he was recovering from his torn ACL at the end of 2023. But when he returned he averaged about 47 yards per game, which may encourage you to bet his player props more than play him in DFS.

But there’s also the theory that rookie quarterbacks lean on their tight ends a bit more. Tight ends tend to run shorter routes over the middle and with Addison out, the Vikings might be able to move the chains every so often with their tight end. He’s not a great play as he had just one touchdown last year but the narrative and opportunities are there for him.

Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $5,800 | FanDuel: $5,400

This is really a GPP-only kind of play. If you’re brave enough to play cash games for Showdown slates, you don’t need to play Loveland. But this kid has immense upside. This was a great tight end class for the 2025 NFL Draft and the Bears essentially drew first blood by making Loveland the first tight end off the board over Tyler Warren. So this is their guy. He’s the one they wanted.

He has athletic upside and he’s great after the catch. He’s my highest owned player in Best Ball because there’s great potential for a late-season breakout. He is hard to project for tonight’s game however and I’m still surprised he’s $5,800 on DraftKings. But he is a great way to get a little different with one or two of your builds because he likely isn’t a player that the DFS community is locking in because there’s just a lot of uncertainty here.

 

 

 

NFL DFS Dart Throw Bargains

Adam Thielen, WR, Minnesota Vikings – DraftKings: $4,400 | FanDuel: $7,800

The Vikings traded for Thielen to bring him home but he also helps fill a temporary void with Jordan Addison suspended. There have been some reports that Thielen won’t play a full share of snaps. And while that may be true, this price is far too good to pass up.

Thielen has always been able to produce and it’s not like he’s completely out of the loop on what O’Connell likes to do with the offense. He will be incredibly popular at this price tag but the price gives you so much flexibility with roster construction. If you do require a little more salary relief for certain builds then Jalen Nailor is an adequate pivot.

Kyle Monangai, RB, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $2,800 | FanDuel: $1,400

With Roschon Johnson dealing with a foot injury and missing some practices last week, there’s some interest with Monangai if Johnson is inactive. As on Monday morning, Johnson is questionable.

Monangai was a seventh-round draft pick this year but Ben Johnson has gone on record giving the rookie high praise and saying he trusts him if they have to utilize him. So I’m only interested in going here if Johnson’s out because even if that’s the case I don’t anticipate Swift leaving the field often.

Olamide Zaccheaus, WR, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $2,000 | FanDuel: $3,200

As the season progresses, I believe Luther Burden takes over this slot role and eats into OZ’s reps. However, for Week 1, OZ is listed atop the depth chart at the slot position and he got plenty of work in with the starters in training camp and preseason action.

OZ has some great props for tonight’s game after he popped for some big scores last year with Washington. But you can probably find some markets where he’s +700 for an anytime touchdown and possibly +12500 for two touchdowns.

We know this slot role is a coveted one for any Ben Johnson offense as Amon-Ra St. Brown had some huge seasons in this role over the years. OZ isn’t that caliber of player but he’s incredibly cheap and should have some involvement for this game.

 

 

 

Vikings vs. Bears DFS Player Pool, 9/8

Player Pool

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