The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 8 matchup between the Texans and Panthers.
Find a breakdown of every Week 8 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Houston | Rank | @ | Carolina | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -3.0 | Spread | 3.0 | ||
| 22.75 | Implied Total | 19.75 | ||
| 22.5 | 14 | Points/Gm | 18.7 | 23 |
| 18.8 | 8 | Points All./Gm | 31.0 | 31 |
| 65.7 | 10 | Plays/Gm | 67.3 | 5 |
| 65.2 | 21 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 60.3 | 9 |
| 5.3 | 14 | Off. Yards/Play | 4.4 | 30 |
| 5.4 | 22 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.7 | 27 |
| 42.39% | 15 | Rush% | 35.64% | 29 |
| 57.61% | 18 | Pass% | 64.36% | 4 |
| 42.97% | 13 | Opp. Rush % | 49.17% | 32 |
| 57.03% | 20 | Opp. Pass % | 50.83% | 1 |
- Carolina is the last remaining team that has not covered the closing point spread (0-5-1 ATS).
- Carolina has allowed 34.0 points over implication this season, 30th in the NFL.
- Houston has allowed 26.75 fewer points than implication this season, fourth in the NFL.
- The Panthers have allowed a touchdown on 31.9% of opponent possessions, 31st in the league.
- 73.3% (22-of-30) of all scoring plays against Carolina have been touchdowns, the highest rate in the league.
- Carolina is averaging 2.0 fewer yards per passing play than their opponent, last in the league.
- Carolina is averaging 4.5 yards per passing play, 30th in the league.
- Houston is averaging 6.8 yards per passing play, sixth in the league.
- Houston is allowing 2.7 sacks plus turnovers per game on offense, fourth in the league.
- 17.6% of the Houston rushing attempts have resulted in a first down or touchdown, 31st in the league.
- 31.1% of the runs against Carolina have resulted in a first down or touchdown, the highest rate in the league.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
C.J. Stroud: Stroud has thrown multiple touchdown passes in four of his past five games played.
Things have not been super clean recently, as Stroud has completed fewer than 60% of his passes in each of his past three games.
From Weeks 4-6, only Mac Jones completed a lower rate of passes below expectations than Stroud at -7.4% over that stretch.
Stroud has been excellent at pushing the ball downfield, with his struggles coming in the short areas of the field.
The latter seems correctable, but Stroud is dead last in the NFL in completion rate on throws fewer than 10 yards downfield, completing 65.4% of those passes. The league average is 73.3%.
On throws 10 yards or further downfield, he is completing 50.6% of those passes (12th) with a 103.7 rating (seventh).
Stroud will look to keep things going as a fringe QB1 against a Carolina defense that is thrown on at the lowest rate in the NFL.
This matchup will be an intriguing dynamic because Houston has not been able to run the ball at all this season.
Teams are not throwing the ball a lot against Carolina, but that does not mean they are good at defending the pass.
The Panthers are 29th in the NFL in passing points allowed per attempt (.490), 27th in yards allowed per attempt (7.6 Y/A), and 30th in touchdown rate allowed (5.9%).
The Panthers are dead last in the league in pressure rate (27.6%), which is great for Stroud.
From a clean pocket, Stroud is averaging 9.0 yards per pass attempt (third in the league) with nine passing touchdowns and one interception.
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