The Carolina Panthers will be rolling out backup quarterback Sam Darnold in this week’s contest, which generally means fewer pass attempts and more rush attempts.
The Carolina Panthers offensive line profiles as the 2nd-best in the league this year in pass protection, which has a strong effect on all passing game statistics across the board.
Ian Thomas’s receiving reliability have improved this season, with his Completion% increasing from 64.8% to 74.6%.
Ian Thomas’s ability to grind out extra yardage has gotten better this season, averaging 9.58 yards-after-the-catch (YAC) vs a mere 4.00 rate last season.
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has given up the 9th-most receiving yards per game in football (52.0) vs. tight ends this year.
Cons
The Carolina Panthers will have a new play-caller this season in offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, and THE BLITZ projects their pass/run mix to tilt 6.3% more towards rushing than it did last season (context-neutralized).
THE BLITZ projects the Carolina Panthers to be the 2nd-least pass-centric team on the slate this week with a 47.8% pass rate, given their underlying tendencies and matchup dynamics.
THE BLITZ projects this game to play at the 11th-slowest pace among all games this week, averaging 26.74 seconds per play based on the tendencies of each team and game dynamics.
The Carolina Panthers have called the 4th-least plays in football this year, totaling a lowly 53.9 plays per game.
Ian Thomas has been used less as a potential pass-catcher this year (34.0% Route% in games he has been on the field) than he did last year (44.3%).