Look, if you can explain the Carolina Panthers' season, you're better at this than I am. The Panthers started the season with two convincing wins, came back with two crushing losses, then a win, a tie and Sunday's 38-17 beatdown at the hands of the Green Bay Packers. There's no discernible pattern there at all.
Panthers fantasy football recap: Greg Olsen racks up yards as Carolina gets crushed
Carolina was never really competitive in Sunday’s game. We break down the fantasy implications.
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The Panthers let the Packers get out to a 28-0 lead before kicking a field goal at the end of the first half to make it 28-3 at halftime. The Packers extended it to 38-3 before calling off the dogs and letting Carolina score two fourth-quarter touchdowns to make it respectable.
Let’s look at the fantasy numbers:
Cam Newton: A week after an enormous game, with 33 fantasy points in the tie against the Cincinnati Bengals, Newton was much quieter Sunday. He threw for 205 yards on 17-of-31 passing, with one touchdown and one interception. His rushing yardage fell off a lot as well, with only 41 as opposed to last week's 107. It was only 14 fantasy points. Still, after not getting many running chances early in the season, Newton has rushed at least six times for three straight games. A Cam Newton that runs the football is a Cam Newton that helps fantasy owners. He's a low-end starter.
Jonathan Stewart: The running back returned to action Sunday after missing three straight games to injury. He responded with 55 rushing yards on 14 carries and a catch for another 12 yards. That looks like a general best-case scenario for Stewart, who won't often get touchdowns and can't get much more carries in a game with all his injury concerns. He doesn't need to be a starting consideration in fantasy.
Kelvin Benjamin: It was rough going for the rookie wide receiver until the fourth quarter, when Benjamin caught a 13-yard pass for the Panthers' first touchdown of the game. All told, he finished the game with 61 yards and that score, but on only three catches. You'd like more receptions than that, but Benjamin does have two straight double-digit fantasy games, four of his last five and five of seven on the season. He's a pretty sure-fire starter.
Greg Olsen: One of the league's most consistent tight ends continued that production Sunday. Olsen caught all eight of his targets for 105 yards in the game. Olsen now has five games of 10 or more fantasy points, and only one game with fewer than seven. He's as safe a bet as there is in the league.
