3 Bold NFL Predictions for Week 9

Adrian Peterson Will Be a Top-5 Running Back

Why This Is Bold: Adrian Peterson has only found moderate success in one game this season, and without Carson Palmer at the helm, the Arizona Cardinals offense is set to take a step back.

Why This Will Happen: Arizona has come out and said that they're going to be feeding Peterson the ball. While he may not be the player he once was, Peterson has shown that he's at his best with heavy volume that allows him to get into a groove.

Drew Stanton, frankly, is not very good. But Peterson has played on plenty of teams with poor quarterbacks (Christian Ponder, anyone?) yet has been a fantasy machine. Leonard Fournette and the Jacksonville Jaguars are a good example of a team hiding their quarterback by playing good defense and pounding the rock.

This formula should allow the Cardinals to attack the San Francisco 49ers where they've been particularly vulnerable in recent years -- the run. They're slightly improved this year versus last, but still rank just 22nd in the NFL in Adjusted Defensive Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per play. (NEP, for those who are unaware, is numberFire's in-house efficiency metric. For more about NEP, visit our glossary.)

Fire up Peterson in a good matchup with confidence.