This week we experienced the downside of Tarik Cohen’s boom-or-bust nature. After several straight weeks of productive fantasy outings, Cohen totaled 13 yards from scrimmage, one catch and no touchdowns against the Bills. Talk about a dud.
The good news for Cohen owners is that this past weekend’s game was somewhat of an anomaly. Chicago managed two defensive touchdowns in the first half, which caused the offense to take a more conservative approach for the remainder of the game. The Bears ran a season-low 51 offensive plays after averaging over 71 plays per game through their first seven contests. Mitch Trubisky attempted a season-low 20 passes, which is where Cohen does most of his damage.
Three of Cohen’s four touchdowns this season have come through the air, as well as 63.9% of his yards from scrimmage. Knowing this we can try to avoid games in which the Bears may find themselves in a run-heavy run-script. Thankfully, Chicago plays the Lions twice and the Vikings over the next three weeks, which should all be competitive enough to keep the Bears throwing the football. Matchups with the lowly Giants and 49ers later in the season stand out as games that could be become lopsided quickly, leading Chicago to abandon Cohen and the passing game.
