Vikings at Panthers: 5 best fantasy options
By John Buhler
The Carolina Panthers (1-1) will host the Minnesota Vikings (2-0) on Sunday afternoon in Week 3. Here are this game’s five best plays for fantasy football.
The Carolina Panthers look to keep their 14-game home winning streak intact on Sunday when they welcome the 2-0 Minnesota Vikings to Bank of America Stadium. This game feels like a potential NFC Playoffs matchup. At full strength, this could even be a preview of the 2016 NFC Championship.
The problem is that Minnesota is not at full strength on offense. The Vikings have now lost three starters to significant injuries on the offensive side of the ball: quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, running back Adrian Peterson, and left tackle Matt Kalil. Bridgewater is out for the year. Kalil and Peterson are on Injured Reserve.
To be fair, this is not an ideal game to pluck players from and start them on your fantasy team. The over/under of 43 combined points seems absurdly high. We’re probably looking at a low-scoring defensive struggle in Charlotte on Sunday. Nevertheless, here are the five players to consider starting on your fantasy football team this week from this particular NFC showdown.
5. Vikings Defense
Though the Vikings defense is only projected to garner 6.2 fantasy points in ESPN leagues and 4.0 in NFL.com leagues, it may not be a play to start Minnesota as your defense this week.
Yes, the Panthers put up 46 points on the lowly San Francisco 49ers in Week 2, but remember how pedestrian Carolina looked on offense against the Denver Broncos in Week 1? Carolina managed just 20 points against an elite Wade Phillips Denver defense.
Minnesota’s defensive personnel isn’t quite what Denver’s is, but the Vikings do have one of the five best defenses in football. The Vikings have great players at all levels of their the defense. Defensive tackle Linval Joseph and free safety Harrison Smith of some of the very best at what they do. Outside linebacker Anthony Barr and cornerback Trae Waynes are emerging talents in their own right.
Carolina’s offense is not going to put up over 40 points on this elite Vikings defense at home in Week 3. One could easily argue that the defense is the best thing the Vikings have going for them in this big NFC showdown on Sunday afternoon in Charlotte.
Should the Vikings slow down the Panthers’ weakened rushing attack sans Jonathan Stewart, Minnesota could garner your fantasy as many as 10 fantasy points. That is assuming the Vikings’ pass rush can sack Cam Newton twice and the defense as a whole forces a turnover or to. It could very well happen on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.