Fantasy football projections, Week 14: Saints vs. Panthers featuring Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham and Cam Newton

We break down the Week 14 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers.

Dec 8, 2013, 1:00 PM UTC

Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

The Week 14 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers features one of the best offenses in the NFC against one of the best defenses in the NFC. We've got all the fantasy projections for you courtesy of numberFire.

New Orleans Saints

Anybody who thought the Saints were the toast of the NFC has to re-evaluate their line of thinking after Drew Brees and company got run out of Seattle in Week 13. The Seahawks defense was all over the Saints in the game. A defensive touchdown in the first quarter after a Brees fumble is what swung the momentum in Seattle's favor for good.

Brees threw for a season-low 147 yards in the game. That might have single-handedly knocked some fantasy owners out of playoff contention. The lone bright spot in the game was that even in one of his worst games of the season, Brees still found tight end Jimmy Graham in the end zone for the team's only touchdown in the game. Graham leads all tight ends with 12 scores on the year and now has a touchdown in back-to-back games. Both Brees and Graham will have to be at their best against the Panthers.

Carolina Panthers

Few would have guessed that the hottest team in the NFL at this point in the season would be the Carolina Panthers, but that’s exactly what the story is. Quarterback Cam Newton has come into his own and led the team through a string of worthy opponents and still came out on top. Newton has eight touchdowns in the team’s last three games (two of them rushing). Speaking of rushing, he has at least 50 yards on the ground himself in those same three games.

Much of the Panthers’ success is due to Newton and the defense. That’s because the team doesn’t have a potent passing game or rush attack. If there is a Panthers pass catcher worth owning in fantasy leagues, it’s tight end Greg Olsen. Olsen has two touchdowns in the last three games and he has at least five catches in each of those games. In all his time with Newton throwing him the ball, Olsen has been the team’s most dependable safety valve.