Thursday Night Football Preview: Week 5

Previewing this week's Thursday Night Football from a fantasy and sports betting perspective

Justin Fields

Thursday Night Football Preview: Week 5 Last week’s game offered a lot for fantasy football fans. And the Lions/Packers game mostly lived up to the hype. That won’t necessarily be the case in Week 4. The winless Chicago Bears travel […]

Thursday Night Football Preview: Week 5

Last week's game offered a lot for fantasy football fans. And the Lions/Packers game mostly lived up to the hype. That won't necessarily be the case in Week 4. The winless Chicago Bears travel to the nation's capital to face the 2-2 Washington Commanders. FullTime Fantasy's Thursday Night Football Preview: Week 5 breaks down this week's NFC slugfest.

The Bears finally showed some life last week. However, a defensive collapse in the second half led to another loss for Matt Eberflus's club. Chicago is now one of only two winless clubs in the NFL.

Meanwhile, Ron Rivera's Washington squad dropped their second consecutive game after opening the season 2-0. However, the Commanders had a good showing, losing 34-31 in Philadelphia.

This is a pivotal game for both teams. Eberflus is feeling the pressure to get a win. Also, the Commanders need to take advantage of an easy schedule to break a two-game losing streak and remain in playoff contention.

Washington opened as 4.5-point favorites before some early action dropped that to -3.5. The over/under rose to 44.5.

Matchup 
TEAM OFFENSE PASS RUSH YDS/PLAY POINTS
Chicago Bears 21 21 13 16 22
Washington Commanders 20 20 17 22 17


The numbers show these teams are quite evenly matched. Their offenses rank back-to-back overall and are separated by just 5o yards. However, Washington has scored 20-plus points in three of four games and twice gone over 30.

Meanwhile, Chicago had three lackluster showings before finally showing some life against a hapless Denver defense on Sunday. For the Bears to have a shot, they'll need some of Justin Fields's Week 4 magic to carry over.

And it very well could. Both teams are bottom-10 in terms of allowing fantasy points to quarterbacks. That invites some solid fantasy, daily, and DFS scoring potential.

Chicago Offense 

Justin Fields had the best passing day of his career last week. Fields posted a 132.7 QB Rating and threw for a career-high 335 yards and four TDs. Fields's accuracy has improved in 2023 but his rushing production has plummeted. After averaging 76 rushing yards per game last year, Fields is down to 33.5 in 2023.

This week's matchup appears fine for the passing game. Washington has surrendered the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing passers. Also, that includes 131 yards on the ground- third-most through four games.

After hearing that Roschon Johnson would get an opportunity to be Chicago's RB1, Khalil Herbert played a season-high 77.8%...

How will Thursday's Lions vs. Packers game go?

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About Jody Smith 485 Articles
With over a decade of winning experience, Jody is a well-known fixture in the fantasy football community. He was named Fantasy Pros’ **Most Accurate Ranker** previously and was the site’s Top NFL over/under totals picker with a record 65% accuracy in 2020, while also ranking 5th in the country with a 55% against-the-spread hit rate. Jody has written for many sites over the years including Pro Football Focus, FantasyPros, CBS Sportsline, FantasyData, and is a regular contributor to the Fantasy Index magazine expert’s poll, draft, and auction. Jody’s experience ranking and projecting player performance will help prepare the Fulltime Fam for their big draft days as well as answers they can trust on Sunday for those ever crucial Who Do I Start questions.