THE BLITZ projects the Carolina Panthers as the 9th-most run-centric team among all teams this week with a 44.7% run rate, based on their underlying tendencies and matchup dynamics.
THE BLITZ projects the Carolina Panthers offense to be the 5th-quickest paced team in the NFL (adjusted for context) right now, averaging 26.48 seconds per play.
THE BLITZ projects Christian McCaffrey to total 17.6 rush attempts in this game, on average, placing him in the 88th percentile among running backs.
Christian McCaffrey has picked up 69.0 yards per game on the ground since the start of last season, one of the biggest marks in football among running backs (97th percentile).
The Carolina Panthers have gone no-huddle on 11.3% of their plays outside the two-minute warning since the start of last season (10th-most in the league). This speeds up the pace, leading to more volume and stat accumulation.
Cons
The Carolina Panthers boast a new play-caller this year in offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, and THE BLITZ projects their pass/run mix to skew 1.6% more towards passing than it did last year (in a neutral context).
THE BLITZ projects Christian McCaffrey to be a much smaller piece of his team’s run game this week (60.3% projected Carry Share) than he has been this year (75.0% in games he has played).
The Carolina Panthers O-line profiles as the 8th-worst in football since the start of last season at run-game blocking.
The Arizona Cardinals defensive tackles grade out as the 7th-best DT corps in the NFL since the start of last season when it comes to run defense.
The Carolina Panthers have faced a stacked the box on 19.7% of their plays since the start of last season, 6th-most in football. Keeping an extra defender close to the line of scrimmage improves run-stopping at the expense of better passing efficiency.