Fantasy fallout after Packers’ edge close game vs. Bears in Week 1

The Green Bay Packers won their first game of the season, but it didn’t translate into many fantasy points for the offensive players.

Trusting Packers players in a tough matchup on the road against the Chicago Bears always came with some risk, and unfortunately many of the players in starting lineups didn’t finish with many fantasy points.

If you drafted Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Jones or Davante Adams, there’s a good chance you had to start them in Week 1.

For a moment, let’s forget the incredible victory for the Packers and focus on how the game impacted fantasy lineups.

Defense dominates: We’ll start with the defense as they stole the show at Soldier Field. It’s hard to imagine the Packers defense got drafted in too many leagues, but they finished with 14 points, according to NFL.com scoring. Mike Pettine’s unit only allowed three points and made five sacks and an interception. That’ll work.

Solid, but not great performance by Rodgers: Aaron Rodgers’ average draft position dropped from in recent years, but chances are those who drafted him had to start him. Rodgers finished the night with 203 passing yards and a touchdown, and eight rushing yards.

In leagues that reward each 25 passing yards with one point and a passing touchdown with four points, Rodgers should’ve finished with around 12.1 points (including 0.8 for his rushing yards).

While that’s not great, it likely won’t cost you your matchup. And it’s not a bad outcome considering the matchup.

As the offense improves, so will Rodgers’ numbers.

Jones’ owners left disappointed: Aaron Jones had arguably the toughest matchup of any Packers player, and it showed. He finished with just 39 rushing yards and one catch for zero yards. That’s 4.9 points in PPR scoring with the extra value from his one reception.

This shouldn’t be a concern, though. The offense will get better and Jones will have plenty of opportunities to put up big numbers this season.

Adams posts single-digit points: Davante Adams was one of the most consistent wide receivers for fantasy last season, but he finished with just 36 receiving yards from four catches, working out at 7.6 points in PPR.

Adams is one of the best pass catchers in the NFL, so it won’t be long before he’s putting up big fantasy numbers.

MVS has a good game: Some fantasy owners may have started Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the FLEX, and that would’ve proved to be a good move. MVS caught four passes for a team-high 52 yards, which translates into 9.2 fantasy points in PPR. For a third option at WR, that’s not bad at all.

This game also showed he should have a big role in Matt LaFleur’s offense.

Graham finds the end zone: Jimmy Graham was low down in draft rankings this year, which is understandable as he wasn’t a TE you could start in fantasy last season. But if anyone did start Graham this week, they were rewarded. Graham caught three passes for 30 yards and the game’s only touchdown, putting up 12 PPR points.

It can be a challenging finding a tight end who puts up double-digit points each week, and Graham’s TD meant he did just that in Week 1.

Still, until Graham proves he’s going to catch a lot of passes in this offense, he should remain on waiver wires, or at least on the bench.