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.
D.J. Moore has run a route on 97.4% of his team’s passing plays this year, putting him in the 99th percentile among WRs.
THE BLITZ projects D.J. Moore to garner 6.8 targets this week, on average, placing him in the 77th percentile among WRs.
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.
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense has surrendered the 6th-most receiving yards per game in the league (170.0) to WRs 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.
D.J. Moore has compiled substantially fewer receiving yards per game (44.0) this year than he did last year (69.0).