Cardinals vs. Panthers: Fantasy football projections for Carson Palmer, Cam Newton and Steve Smith

The Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers will face off on Sunday. There should be plenty of options for fantasy football in the game.

by James Brady

Oct 6, 2013, 10:38 AM UTC

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Carolina Panthers will take on the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 5 matchup on Sunday. Arizona is 2-2 and coming off a solid win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They're trying to make it two-straight while maintaining their spot in second place in the NFC West. Carolina is coming off a bye week after absolutely demolishing the New York Giants, 38-0 in Week 3.

Neither team is truly stacked as far as fantasy football is concerned, but there are some solid options, regardless. With some help from numberFire, we’ve got some projections for you. We’ll start with the Cardinals below:

Cardinals

There are some who thought quarterback Carson Palmer might not have made it to this point in the season. Arizona's offensive line is very poor and Palmer isn't very mobile, so it was a legitimate concern. But he's been relatively healthy, though his play has been lacking. He's thrown four touchdowns and six interceptions.

Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald has struggled as well. He's kind of disappeared in recent seasons, and the poor play from the quarterbacks certainly don't help. Rashard Mendenhall has been very disappointing, as well. Nobody on the Cardinals is expected to contribute 12 points or more in fantasy football this week.

Panthers

The Panthers have under-performed significantly this season, but it hasn’t been all on the offense. The defense has dropped the ball more, and the offense has some pretty compelling fantasy options. Quarterback Cam Newton is the most useful weapon, with six touchdowns against two interceptions. He’s projected to earn over 18 fantasy points this week, so he’s a must-start.

Wide receiver Steve Smith is tied for second on the team in yardage, with Ted Ginn Jr. and below Greg Olsen. He’s under-performed as well, but he’s always capable of having a big day, as is running back DeAngelo Williams. Arizona could go either way at this point so big days from all wouldn’t be totally unexpected.