Pros
- The Denver Broncos will have a new play-caller this season in head coach Nathaniel Hackett, and THE BLITZ projects their pass/run mix to skew 4.4% more towards passing than it did last season (in a neutral context).
- The Broncos are a 4-point underdog in this week’s contest, likely leading to a passing game script.
- THE BLITZ projects this game to see the smallest volume of plays run on the slate this week at 132.8 plays, given the tendencies of each team and game dynamics.
- THE BLITZ projects Courtland Sutton to accrue 9.8 targets in this week’s game, on average, placing him in the 96th percentile among wide receivers.
- Courtland Sutton has totaled far more air yards this year (123.0 per game) than he did last year (93.0 per game).
Cons
- THE BLITZ projects the Denver Broncos as the least pass-heavy offense among all teams this week with a 61.2% pass rate, based on their underlying tendencies and matchup dynamics.
- The Los Angeles Chargers pass defense has performed very well when opposing wideouts have gotten into space, allowing an average of 3.52 yards-after-the-catch this year: the 2nd-least in football.
- The Los Angeles Chargers have stacked the box vs. opponents on just 13.8% of their plays since the start of last season, 8th-least in the NFL. Choosing not to keep an extra defender near the line of scrimmage improves pass defense at the expense of run-stopping.
- The Denver Broncos have gone no-huddle on a lowly 3.8% of their plays outside the two-minute warning since the start of last season (least in the NFL). This deadens the pace, leading to less volume and stat production.
Projection
THE BLITZ
79
Receiving Yards