The Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears are playing for the NFC north division title and one of the playoff spots up for grabs heading into the postseason and the game will be at Soldier Field on FOX starting up at 4:25 pm and the game is a big one for both teams and they each will have their starting quarterbacks in the game with Jay Cutler and Aaron Rodgers facing off in Week 17.
The Packers come into the game after a loss against the Steelers and the Bears are coming in after being embarrassed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night football by allowing 50 points and now it all comes down to the final game for the two teams to get into the playoffs. The Bears had a chance to lock things up with the game against the Eagles and they ended up getting killed and now they have the game at home after winning already against the Packers at Lambeau Field and that game saw Josh McCown lead the team to a victory and the Packers will have to focus hard on Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery and the Bears defense will be on the lookout for Rodgers and Eddie Lacy, as Chicago has the worst ranked defense in yards allowed on the ground per game.
Here is a look back from earlier in the season for some fantasy details on the Packers and their tight ends in Brandon Bostick and Andrew Quarless and both players could be big factors coming into the game on Sunday against the Bears. The Green Bay Packers are heading into some unknown territory as they prepare for the next stretch of games without quarterback Aaron Rodgers and with fantasy owners looking for possible replacements with Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn in the fold, some smart tight end starts for injured star Jermichael Finley are Brandon Bostick and Andrew Quarless in Week 11.
Check here for the Packers and Bears live coverage.
The team is heading into a big matchup on the road with the New York Giants and playing without Rodgers in the lineup should be a tough test, but with the way NY has played this season and the magic the Packers sometimes can generate against them, it could end up a surprise outcome on Sunday. Either way, with Tolzien in at quarterback and Randall Cobb still on the sidelines with a leg injury, the tight ends should get some attention in the game against the Giants, with players Brandon Bostick and Andrew Quarless the likely options to start with Jermichael Finley out indefinitely with a neck injury.
This season Bostick did has not had the chance to play much, but he ended up with three catches on Sunday against the Eagles after going catch-less in seven games and he also scored a touchdown in the game and now with Finley out of the lineup, he has been seeing more of the field. Depending on how the Packers want to do things, both Quarless and Bostick should get a fair share of snaps and while I'd go with Quarless to start, Bostick could end up being the more productive player come the end of the season. Bostick deserves a look in deeper leagues over Quarless and heading into the back stretch, Quarless is the leading tight end past Finley with 22 catches for 83 yards this season and also has an average of nearly seven yards per catch, very solid for a tight end.
Last game he has just one catch on four targets and Bostick was the one who made it into the end zone and the primary stats for Quarless this season have come since Finley was knocked out. Quarless made seven catches over the previous two games, including five against the Chicago Bears on seven targets in the loss at home and he had 34 yards in that game, his best performance of the season. Quarless went a stretch of three games without a catch and before that he had three catches for 21 yards in the loss to the Bengals and against the Vikings he had two catches on two targets for 13 yards in the win.
While neither Quarless nor Bostick have put up crazy numbers, they are solid players to look at heading down the stretch, as the Packers should feature more targets to the tight end with Cobb and Finley out of the lineup. The team has been one of the most consistent offensive teams in the league this season with a top 10 ranked rushing attack and a top 10 passing game and with Eddie Lacy handling the rock, the passing game has not had to do as much this year. The team has a tough schedule to finish the season with a number of divisional games, meaning these players will be on the field for some important matchups and once Rodgers gets back to action, both players should jump in value.
