Let’s close out Week 8 with another NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook with another NFC matchup in primetime. The Chicago Bears will visit the Seattle Seahawks in a potential playoff preview as both teams have aspirations for deep playoff runs.
This game is exciting as it’ll pit a great offense against an elite defense. Ben Johnson has been vocal about wanting the Bears to set records on offense this season, but the Seahawks have been stout on defense and they have one of the best home field advantages in the NFL. Let’s dig into the positional matchups and storylines for the final game of Week 8!
NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook; Bears vs. Seahawks Game Preview
We get a potential NFC playoff preview on Monday Night Football as the Chicago Bears head to the Pacific Northwest for a date with the Seattle Seahawks. Both teams aren’t atop their respective divisions but they’re in contention. For the Bears, the NFC North is loaded with competition. Even if the Bears were to lose Monday night, all four teams would be 5-3 or better. For Seattle, a win would get them to 5-3 and that would help them keep pace with the San Francisco 49ers (6-1).
With the NFL Trade Deadline looming, we witnessed both of these teams make big splashes last week as they addressed areas where they needed to improve. The Seahawks acquired eight-time Pro Bowl guard, Quenton Nelson, from the Indianapolis Colts for future third-and-fifth round picks. Nelson, when healthy, is arguably the best interior offensive lineman in the NFL and he’s a lock for the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible.
And for the Chicago Bears, they traded a pair of first-round picks to the Tennessee Titans for four-time Pro Bowl selection Jeffery Simmons, who is arguably the best interior defensive lineman in the NFL. Simmons is on a reasonable contract that would keep him in Chicago through the 2028 season.
Both teams are gearing up for deep postseason runs. Seattle hasn’t quite gotten off to the most consistent start following their Super Bowl championship from a year ago. But for this matchup, the Seahawks are three-point favorites at home with an implied team total of almost 25 points while the Bears carry an implied total just under 22 points.
This matchup is shaping up to be one of the more difficult games to preview. Everyone knows how good the Seattle defense is, and the Bears defense is obviously better as well. As far as the positional matchups are concerned, everyone has an uphill battle aside from Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But we have you covered with the top plays and values for this game as we dive into the latest NFL DFS Monday Night Football Playbook.
Bears vs. Seahawks Notable Injuries & Inactives
The Chicago Bears have ruled out Kyle Monangai for the fourth straight game after he didn’t practice last week as he recovers from separate thumb and toe injuries. On the defensive side, Malik Muhammad and D’Marco Jackson are questionable, but it at least seems like Jackson could suit up after registering a full practice on Saturday. And while Colston Loveland is going to suit up and play, he was battling a neck injury he sustained in practice last week.
On offense for the Seattle Seahawks, they’ve already ruled out Rashid Shaheed, Charles Cross, and Velus Jones The loss of Cross probably hits the hardest after he recently sustained an ankle injury. But Shaheed’s absence will open up value among Seattle’s pass catchers.
And we’re going to be keeping an eye on some transactions the Seahawks could make ahead of this game. No, I’m not anticipating another trade just yet. But Zach Charbonnet is slated to make his 2026 debut after he spent the offseason recovering from a torn ACL. But Jadarian Price is eligible to come off injured reserve as well. The organization hasn’t officially activated him yet, but it sounds as if he’ll be available for this game.
NFL DFS Showdown MVP/Captain for Monday Night Football, 11/2
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $12,000 | FanDuel: $13,000
JSN is likely to be the most popular MVP/Captain selection on both DraftKings and FanDuel for our MNF DFS picks. After yesterday’s games, JSN leads the NFL in receiving yards (867) and receiving touchdowns (8), and Seattle hasn’t even played yet this week.
He’s likely to see a lot of coverage from Jaylon Johnson. In previous seasons that might give me some cause for concern, but we haven’t really seen Johnson at his best this year. The Bears use a lot of man coverage, the third-most in the league. JSN sees a jump in target share against man coverage, from 31% to 43%, and he has a 52% first-read target share.
He’s hit the receiving bonus (100+ yards) on DraftKings in six-of-seven games this season so the ceiling is wildly impressive for JSN when you combine his receiving volume and touchdown equity. With no Rashid Shaheed for this game, it’s possible that even more targets funnel his way.
D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $9,800 | FanDuel: $10,600
Swift may not have the 100-yard bonus equity that JSN possesses but he’s still a volume hog and a great weapon out of the backfield for the Bears. The rushing totals haven’t been that impressive of late and he hasn’t popped for 100+ yards since Week 1. However, he has four touchdowns in his last three games and he’s involved in the passing game with four receptions in each of his last three outings. The Seahawks enter Week 8 allowing the second-most receptions to opposing running backs.
The Seahawks are incredibly difficult to run on, however. Among all 32 NFL defenses they rank first in rush success rate (32.7%), second in EPA/rush (-0.18), and second in yards before contact per attempt (0.69) according to Sam Hoppen.
Fortunately for Swift, he can provide value even if he isn’t efficient because he sees great volume and is a PPR cheat code among running backs. No player on the slate has the ceiling JSN possesses, but for the sake of diversifying our exposures, we can’t completely go all in with JSN as Captain in every lineup. Swift is one of the few players worth pivoting to. With Kyle Monangai out for this game, Swift will once again shoulder a lot of the workload.
Luther Burden, WR, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $8,200
I’m absolutely stunned with Burden’s price tag on FanDuel because it is soft. Three Seattle running backs are all priced above him? How does this make any sense? Now I totally understand that the matchup is brutal. I’m not entirely comfortable listing any player in this section not named Jaxon Smith-Njigba. But I would really be mailing it in if I said “Plug JSN in at Captain and take your best guess with the rest of it.”
Burden still has plenty of upside to make a big play even though Seattle is a nightmare for pass catchers. The Seahawks play zone heavily (88%) and Burden at least has a 21% target share against zone schemes. But the Seahawks are also allowing the second-fewest fantasy points to opposing receivers and they’ve given up just four touchdowns to opposing wideouts all year as well.
But the Seahawks are also top 10 in pressure rate (42.6%), quick pressure rate (22.5%), and non-blitz pressure rate (41.8%). A lot of Burden’s targets come when Caleb Williams has a clean pocket. But under pressure, Williams does tend to lean more towards Rome Odunze, who will make the player pool below.
At the end of the day this is just a one-game Showdown slate. So Burden and pretty much anyone on the Bears are simply “game theory” plays as you build your lineups projecting a specific game script. There at least is a chance the Bears shock everyone and run the score up, unlike what the Kansas City Chiefs did a week ago against Seattle.
Colston Loveland, TE, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $7,800 | FanDuel: $7,200
The Bears lost Cole Kmet to a season-ending injury, and while Kmet’s presence wasn’t necessarily holding Loveland back by any means, it does make him the unequivocal “guy” in the tight end room. In three of his last four games, Loveland has caught at least six receptions for 50+ yards. And he’s found the end zone in back-to-back games as well.
Now similar to what we just said about Luther Burden, Loveland doesn’t have an easy matchup. No tight end has gone for 45+ receiving yards against Seattle, and he’s been battling a neck injury that he sustained in practice last week. So again it’s an ugly matchup for almost anybody on the Bears offense but if you build out some lineup stacks in favor of Chicago, you’re putting your faith in the offensive wizardry of Ben Johnson.
Mid-Tier & DFS Value Plays for Monday
Caleb Williams, QB, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $12,200
Williams is the second-most expensive player on the slate and I might catch some heat for not listing him in the section above. Entering Week 8 he ranked second among qualified quarterbacks in EPA/play (0.35) and completion percentage over expected (9.0%) per Sam Hoppen. But the reality is that Seattle is a nightmare matchup for quarterbacks, and this game is at home for the defending Super Bowl champs.
Seattle is allowing the fewest passing yards per game (144.4) and opposing quarterbacks are averaging the eighth-fewest pass attempts per game (30.4) against the Seahawks.
Now there can be some exceptions to the rules. The QB/head coach combo of Williams and Ben Johnson might be able to find some flaws/weaknesses in this defense that not even Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid could find last week on Sunday Night Football. But on paper, the Seahawks have been a terrible matchup for quarterbacks. But Williams does have some mobility that can raise his floor/ceiling a bit. But I’ll trust the data and guess that, as of Monday morning, Williams could have a frustrating evening.
Sam Darnold, QB, Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $9,400 | FanDuel: $11,000
Darnold’s certainly having a tough year following the team’s Super Bowl run a year ago. He got injured in Week 1 and missed Week 2. But he returned in Week 3 and over his last five games he’s thrown eight touchdown passes but also eight interceptions. According to Sam Hoppen, Darnold ranks 24th among qualified quarterbacks in EPA/play (-0.01) and 18th in completion percentage over expectation (0.5%). Now I will say that the passing totals have been better of late because he’s thrown for 250+ yards in back-to-back games.
The addition of Quenton Nelson will surely help improve the pass protection for Darnold but the Bears haven’t been a great matchup for quarterbacks and that was before they traded for Jeffery Simmons. Opposing quarterbacks are only attempting 27.7 pass attempts (fewest in the league) despite averaging 225.9 passing yards per game.
In general, due to the turnovers, Darnold hasn’t quite flashed a great ceiling and he doesn’t have the rushing upside that Williams possesses. But he still works well as a Flex option mostly for correlation with his skill position players.
Emanuel Wilson, RB, Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $7,400 | FanDuel: $10,000
Zach Charbonnet, RB, Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $7,000 | FanDuel: $9,400
Jadarian Price, RB, Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $6,400 | FanDuel: $8,600
The Seattle running backs are in play for our MNF DFS picks but two of them come with caution. Charbonnet is seeing his first action of the season after tearing his ACL in last year’s playoffs so this will be his first game in over nine months. And it sounds as if Seattle could activate Price off injured reserve ahead of the 4:00pm deadline as he returns to action after recovering from a chest injury.
Price had his struggles earlier in the year after losing fumbles in Weeks 2 and 3 before landing on IR, and he didn’t find the end zone in that small sample size. And we also know that Charbonnet previously thrived for Seattle whenever Kenneth Walker missed time. And more recently, Mike Macdonald called Charbonnet a “three down back” which does give me some optimism regarding his usage for this game.
The Bears have been tough to run on as they’re allowing the fourth-fewest rushing yards per game (87.6) entering Week 8, but these are running backs priced reasonably that could see some plenty of opportunities. And if, for whatever reason, the Seahawks don’t activate Price off IR for this game, then Charbonnet should earn more consideration as a Captain recommendation. And Emanuel Wilson would enter that fold as well, but the pricing is tough because if you assume all three of these players were healthy, he’d likely be RB3.
NFL DFS Dart Throw Bargains
Cooper Kupp, WR, Seattle Seahawks – DraftKings: $4,800 | FanDuel: $5,400
With Rashid Shaheed out for the Seahawks, Cooper Kupp will naturally get a boost in this NFC primetime matchup. Kupp’s receiving numbers are all over the place. But coming into this game he’s at least recorded multiple receptions in all but one game this year and if he finds the end zone in this matchup, then he’s likely paying off his price tag.
All the attention will go to JSN and he should be the highest-rostered player on this slate. But the Bears will likely give him extra attention and that could open opportunities for the value pass catchers on Seattle.
Roschon Johnson, RB, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $5,800
It isn’t pretty, like most plays on this slate, but with no Kyle Monangai for this game, Johnson does get a bit of a boost. But similar to the outlook for D’Andre Swift, the matchup is tough because Seattle defends the run so well. With no Monangai in Week 6, Johnson had 15 total touches for 85 total yards, but he did lose a fumble. Then last week he was relegated to just a pair of carries.
If this game surprisingly turns into a blowout for Chicago, then that likely helps Johnson’s potential for late-game work. That’s basically how he ended up with 15 touches against the Atlanta Falcons two weeks ago. So if you’d prefer to save more salary you can consider Tory Horton on the Seattle side who, like Cooper Kupp, gets a bit of a bump with Rashid Shaheed sidelined for this matchup.
Sam Roush, TE, Chicago Bears – DraftKings: $1,200 | FanDuel: $1,200
I’m really hoping that Sam Roush’s ownership isn’t too ridiculous as a value punt but I don’t think he’ll exceed 30% as a flex option. The Bears lost Cole Kmet for the season and Kmet played about 60% of the snaps even if he was used scarcely at times. Ben Johnson even gave him a glowing endorsement ahead of Kmet’s injury so it stands to reason that Roush steps into a larger role especially with Seattle accounting for the bigger name playmakers on Chicago’s offense.
At this price, he’s returning value with just a few receptions and if he finds the end zone, he’s likely breaking the slate and you can bet his receiving props at very long odds. And it’s not like he’s an undrafted free agent. He was an early third-round selection out of Stanford from this year’s draft when the Bears already had a crowded tight end room. So they obviously valued him as a prospect and now they can get a better look at their rookie tight end.
Bears vs. Seahawks DFS Player Pool, 11/2
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