Panthers vs. Eagles
Panthers
Passing Game
Have a day WR Devin Funchess! Funchess continues to be the top targeted receiver in Carolina’s offense, catching six passes for 62 yards and a score on 11 targets in Sunday’s game. My sleeper pick WR D.J. Moore barely produced, finishing the game with three catches for 29 yards, while WR Torrey Smith finished both second in targets and receiving yards for the Panthers in this game. TE Greg Olsen still does not look 100% healthy, and if not for his touchdown he would not be fantasy relevant at all.
Running Game
The Panthers played most of this game from behind, which is the reason RB Christian McCaffrey once again underwhelmed us with only seven carries for 29 yards. If you’re looking to make a trade for a running back in your league, now is probably a good time to trade for McCaffrey, as two straight weeks with less than 10 carries and 30 yards has probably soured them a bit towards him. QB Cam Newton continues to be a force on the ground for the Panthers, rushing for 49 yards on only seven carries. Cam is really making me eat crow for calling him the most volatile quarterback in fantasy this preseason.
Defense
LB Luke Kuechly is an animal. He finished the game with 14 tackles, four of them for losses. S Eric Reid also had notable day on the field, mostly for his heated altercation with S Malcolm Jenkins over the anthem protests, but he also turned in the second most tackles for the Panthers. For his timeliness, the hero of the game defensively has to go to DE Julius Peppers forcing the fumble that sealed the victory for the Panthers once DT Kyle Love recovered it with less than a minute to go in the game.
-Alex Drennan
Eagles
In case you didn’t watch it, here’s the game summary for you: Eagles win three quarters and spend the last quarter beautifully gift wrapped the W for the Carolina Panthers. To say it was pathetic doesn’t do it justice, but lucky for those interested in their fantasy players rather than the team’s prospects, those three quarters were more than enough to make for solid days for many players. Let’s see how everyone did….
Wonder Wentz
Hey a solid paragraph title! Yep, a broken clock is right once a day! Anyway, Wentz is spectacular, and you already knew this. Despite a lower than usual QBR of 68.6, Wentz again improved his completion percentage, racking up 30 completions on 38 attempts for 310 yards. It seems Wentz has affirmed his matchup proof status, but just to be sure, the Ginger Gentleman™ will travel to London to play the best defense in the league in the Jaguars. How’s that for a final test? And with the team’s season arguably on the line to boot.
When Life Gives You a Jeffery, Pass to He and Ertz
Man are Alshon Jeffery and Zach Ertz good or what? The duo converted 16 of 21 targets for a whooping 226 yards while clearly presenting as the go-to options at nearly every point in the game. Like Wentz, it seems like they can’t be stopped (until late in the fourth quarter!). As for the supporting cast, Ertz’s double Dallas Goedert was indeed a sleeper in this one nabbing four of his five targets for 43 yards and a score. Again, Nelson Agholor disappointed, catching six balls for an average of a little over three yards per catch. Yikes. Oh, and everyone else continues to be irrelevant as they ensured no one forgot by not being targeted!
PLEASE GET HELP
By nearly every measure, the Eagles offensive line grades out as a top-end run blocking unit. You wouldn’t know it given a cursory glance at the game’s final box score. Wendell Smallwood was again inefficient while leading the backfield, averaging a tad over three yards per carry on the day, while Corey Clement looked downright awful when running between the tackles. You KNOW it’s bad when Josh Adams leads your backfield in terms of efficiency. There is still RB2 and flex value to be had in Smallwood and Clement, but lord does Howie Roseman need to bring in someone to infuse some life into this backfield.
¾ of a Defense
This unit looked downright dominant through three quarters, but absolutely atrocious play in the secondary throughout the final quarter of the game ruined all of that and forced a tasty L down Eagles fans’ throats. While this unit can still capitalize on mediocre and strong matchups, they cannot be started as the stud defense they once were until reinforcements come in the secondary. Oh, look at that, a matchup with the reeling Jacksonville offense. Nice!
-Alex Silverman