The Week 1 matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears features a team with a solid run defense going up against a fantasy stud in the backfield. We've got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 2: Cardinals-Bears featuring Carson Palmer, John Brown and Matt Forte
We break down the Week 1 matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears.
Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals walked away from Week 1 with a win over the New Orleans Saints and quarterback Carson Palmer had a lot to do with that. He threw three touchdown passes to go with 307 yards in the victory. If Palmer can keep his health together, he's a solid fantasy option all year. He'll be particularly valuable in Week 2 against the Bears, a team that gave up 31 points to the Green Bay Packers last week.
Palmer's performance last week was aided by wide receiver John Brown, who caught four passes for 46 yards and a touchdown against the Saints. Brown drew plenty of praise from teammate Larry Fitzgerald in the preseason and he's been pegged by many to be in for a breakout year in 2015. Following up his Week 1 performance with another solid effort against the Bears would go a long way towards realizing his potential. Brown should be in starting lineups this week.
Chicago Bears
Word around Chicago in the offseason was that the Bears wouldn't rely on running back Matt Forte as much as the team has in years past. Forte's Week 1 performance against the Green Bay Packers clearly threw that notion out of the window. He totaled 166 yards on 29 touches and scored his first touchdown of the season. Producing a repeat performance against the Arizona Cardinals will undoubtedly present a tougher challenge, but Forte will be the engine that drives Chicago's offense all year long so there's no reason not to start him.
If Forte does experience problems finding holes at the line of scrimmage, the Bears will look for wide receiver Alshon Jeffery in the passing game. Jeffery caught five passes for 78 yards last week against Green Bay and is by far the team's No. 1 receiving option. Going up against Patrick Peterson in Week 2 will undoubtedly be a tough task. That said, Jefferey should see plenty of volume and thus, an opportunity to put up numbers anyway.
