The Week 7 matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers features two teams managing to win last week thanks in large part to defense. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 7: Eagles-Panthers featuring DeMarco Murray, Cam Newton and Greg Olsen
We break down the Week 7 matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Carolina Panthers.
Philadelphia Eagles
It’s official. Running back DeMarco Murray is back! If the Eagles don’t give him a high volume of touches the rest of the season, they’re crazy. While much of the offensive production last week came thanks to some huge plays from the defense, Murray scored a touchdown for the second straight game and posted his first 100-yard plus rushing numbers wearing green and white. The Panthers are certainly one of the best defensive squads in the NFL, but if Murray continues to get 20 or more carries a game, he’ll be good for some fantasy points on Sunday.
Hopefully wide receiver Jordan Matthews will be too. He ranks 13th in the NFL and targets, yet he only has one touchdown on the season to show for it. It’s of course not all Matthews’ fault, as Sam Bradford has struggled to find his game for the most part. Given that Matthews will most certainly draw elite cornerback Josh Norman in coverage and he has struggled with some dropped passes lately, the young sophomore receiver would be beating the odds by putting together a big game this week.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton didn’t exactly put up the performance a fantasy owner’s dreams are made of against the Seattle Seahawks last week, but he did find a way to get the win and keep his team undefeated. Overall, he’s had an outstanding season given that the Panthers possess a limited amount of talent offensively. Newton will undoubtedly have an easier time against the Eagles, or at least he should. It really depends how effective linebacker Connor Barwin is at spying on him in the pocket, which is what the Eagles plan to do. Last year they sacked Newton 3.5 times. This year however, the Panthers are looking as good as they ever have. The captain of the team is a big reason for that.
While on one hand Newton only threw one touchdown in the game and finished with average fantasy stats, tight end Greg Olsen had his second monster game of the season. He caught seven of 11 targets for 131 yards and a touchdown. The performance marked the third time this season that Olsen was targeted with at least 11 passes. That kind of volume combined with his veteran experience and offensive flare will be a huge asset against the Eagles this week.
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