Pros
- At a -6.5-point disadvantage, the Cardinals are underdogs in this week’s contest, implying more of a focus on throwing than their typical game plan.
- The predictive model expects the Cardinals offense to be the 2nd-fastest paced team in the league (in a neutral context) at the present time, averaging 26.17 seconds per snap.
- This year, the feeble Pittsburgh Steelers defense has conceded the 5th-most yards-after-the-catch in football to opposing offenses: a whopping 5.37 YAC.
Cons
- The Cardinals have a new play-caller this year in head coach Jonathan Gannon, and the projections expect their pass/run mix to tilt 1.9% more towards rushing than it did last year (context-neutralized).
- The model projects the Arizona Cardinals to be the 8th-least pass-oriented offense on the slate this week with a 56.4% pass rate, accounting for their underlying play style and matchup dynamics.
- In this contest, Kyler Murray is projected by the predictive model to have the 9th-fewest pass attempts out of all QBs with 33.7.
- Kyler Murray’s 59.5% Adjusted Completion% this season marks a noteable decrease in his throwing precision over last season’s 64.5% rate.
- Opposing teams have completed passes at the 5th-lowest level in football versus the Pittsburgh Steelers defense this year (66.0% Adjusted Completion%).
Projection
THE BLITZ
187
Passing Yards