The Footballguys IDP Matchup Spreadsheet tracks trends around the league to help evaluate IDP matchups. I’ll use this article to call out some interesting numbers in the data each week.

You can find the Microsoft Excel tool HERE

SCHEDULE TAB

The Schedule tab was a recent addition to try and help someone quickly identify favorable matchups each week. I pulled in some key metrics for the defense as well as the offense they are facing this week.

When I look at matchups for this week, these are the ones that look MOST FAVORABLE from a tackling perspective (with some notes if the matchup is particularly unfavorable for run vs pass):

• WASHINGTON (vs Philadelphia) – Eagles offense generating 59 tackle opps/game (33 rush att)
• SEATTLE (vs Cleveland) – Browns offense generating 56 tackle opps/game (33 rush att)
• LAS VEGAS (at Detroit) – Lions offense generating 55 tackle opps/game (25 completions)
• ARIZONA (vs Baltimore) – Ravens offense generating 55 tackle opps/game (32 rush att)
• INDIANAPOLIS (vs New Orleans) – Saints offense generating 55 tackle opps/game (25 completions)
• NY JETS (vs NY Giants) – Giants offense generating 54 tackle opps/game

In contrast, these matchups look LEAST FAVORABLE from a tackling perspective (with some notes if the matchup is particularly unfavorable for run vs pass):

• NY GIANTS (vs NY Jets) – Jets offense generating 44 tackle opps/game
• MINNESOTA (at Green Bay) – Packers offense generating 44 tackle opps/game
• JACKSONVILLE (at Pittsburgh) – Steelers offense generating 44 tackle opps/game
• ATLANTA (at Tennessee) – Titans offense generating 45 tackle opps/game (17 completions)
• KANSAS CITY (at Denver) – Broncos offense generating 45 tackle opps/game
• SAN FRANCISCO (vs Cincinnati) – Bengals offense generating 46 tackle opps/game (19 rush att)

You may also want some help picking out matchups for pass rushers. These are some that look MOST FAVORABLE to me from a pass-rush perspective:

• PHILADELPHIA (at Washington) – Commanders allowing 5.7 sacks/game
• NY JETS (at NY Giants) – Giants allowing 5.3 sacks/game
• LOS ANGELES Chargers (vs Chicago) – Bears allowing 3.9 sacks/game
• ATLANTA (at Tennessee) – Titans allowing 3.8 sacks/game

In contrast, here are some matchups that look LEAST FAVORABLE from a pass-rush perspective:

• DENVER (vs Kansas City) – Chiefs allowing 1.0 sack/game
• BUFFALO (vs Tampa Bay) – Buccaneers allowing 1.3 sacks/game
• NEW ENGLAND (at Miami) – Dolphins allowing 1.4 sacks/game
• TAMPA BAY (at Buffalo) – Bills allowing 1.4 sacks/game

STAT CREW GRADES

This tab keeps track of tendencies for each stat crew. Each home stadium typically has its own group of stat keepers responsible for assigning tackle details (solo vs solo/assist vs assist/assist) on each play. The table at the top keeps track of Tackles vs Opportunity and compares total tackles awarded (solos plus assists) divided by tackle opportunities (rush attempts plus pass completions plus sacks). This gives you an idea of which crews tend to be more generous or less generous in comparison to everybody else.

There are some crews at the top where you can likely expect more tackles to be awarded on average for each opportunity. These are stadiums that you may want to focus on with some of your IDP matchups, as they will tend to inflate the number of IDPs who are involved in each play.

Week 7 Review:

We are starting to see some clear trends in the data this year. For example, Tampa Bay went from being one of the least generous stat crews in 2022 (1.18 tackles per opp, 41% assists) to one of the most generous crews in 2023 (1.28 tackles per opp, 50% assists). The numbers there have been quite consistent across 4 home games already, which provides more support that we are seeing a real change in how they review plays and awarding tackles.

In the opposite direction, the Jets stand out for similar reasons. They went from being one of the most generous stat crews in 2022 (1.25 tackles per opp, 48% assists) to one of the least generous crews in 2023 (1.2 tackles per opp, 37% assists).

This type of information can be helpful to try and identify favorable or unfavorable matchups. For example, this week, the Jets are playing at the Giants. The Jets home crew ranks 27th in tackles awarded per opportunity while the Giants home crew ranks 4th. So, we’d expect Jets IDPs to get a small boost here compared to their own home games played in the same stadium. Philadelphia (30th in TVO) playing at Washington (2nd in TVO) is another similar example where the Eagles IDPs should see a benefit from playing in front of a more generous stat crew.

Similarly, Tampa ranks third in tackles per opportunity this year (1.28), but they are on the road against the Bills, whose home crew ranks 31st with 1.16 tackles per opportunity. Therefore, you can likely expect Tampa IDPs like Lavonte David to take a hit this week and finish with lower tackle numbers than they are accustomed to when playing at home.

Home STADIUMS with MOST GENEROUS (tackle per opportunity) stat crews this week include*:

• Carolina (vs Houston) – 1.28 tackles/opp
• Washington (vs Philadelphia) – 1.28 tackles/opp
• NY Giants (vs NY Jets) – 1.27 tackles/opp
• Indianapolis (vs New Orleans) – 1.27 tackles/opp
• Tennessee (vs Atlanta) – 1.27 tackles/opp

Home STADIUMS with LEAST GENEROUS (tackles per opportunity) stat crews this week include:

• LA Chargers (vs Chicago) – 1.16tackles/opp
• Buffalo (vs Tampa Bay) – 1.16 tackles/opp
• Arizona (vs Baltimore) – 1.18 tackles/opp
• Miami (vs New England) – 1.2 tackles/opp
• San Francisco (vs Cincinnati) – 1.2 tackles/opp

Some leagues may place a premium on SOLO TACKLES and award more points for them than two assisted tackles. In that case, you’d want to focus on matchups played in STADIUMS that award a high percentage of solo tackles. This week, that would include:

• LA Chargers (vs Chicago) – 86% solos
• Pittsburgh (vs Jacksonville) – 84% solos
• Dallas (vs LA Rams) – 82% solos
• Tennessee (vs Atlanta) – 82% solos
• Buffalo (vs Tampa Bay) – 81% solos
• Arizona (vs Baltimore) – 81% solos

In other cases, you may not want to differentiate between a solo or an assist and want to just focus on total tackles. STADIUMS this week that tend to award the highest percentage of ASSISTS per opportunity are:

• Washington (vs Philadelphia) – 54% assists
• Carolina (vs ) – 54% assists
• NY Giants (vs NY Jets) – 51% assists
• Indianapolis (vs ) – 49% assists

Hopefully, this helps give you some useful information. Please reach out with any questions or feedback.