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.

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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):

• DALLAS (at Philadelphia) – Eagles offense generating 58 tackle opps/game (31 rush att)
• ARIZONA (at Cleveland) – Browns offense generating 56 tackle opps/game (33 rush att)
• LAS VEGAS (vs NY Giants) – Giants offense generating 55 tackle opps/game (30 rush att)
• CHICAGO (at New Orleans) – Saints offense generating 55 tackle opps/game
• SEATTLE (at Baltimore) – Ravens offense generating 54 tackle opps/game (32 rush att)

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

• LA CHARGERS (at NY Jets) – Jets offense generating 43 tackle opps/game
• LA RAMS (at Green Bay) – Packers offense generating 44 tackle opps/game
• TENNESSEE (at Pittsburgh) – Steelers offense generating 44 tackle opps/game
• NY GIANTS (at Las Vegas) – Raiders offense generating 45 tackle opps/game
• PITTSBURGH (vs Tennessee) – Titans offense generating 46 tackle opps/game (17 completions)

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:

• NEW ENGLAND (vs Washington) – Commanders allowing 5.1 sacks/game
• LAS VEGAS (vs NY Giants) – Giants allowing 5.1 sacks/game
• PITTSBURGH (vs Tennessee) – Titans allowing 3.6 sacks/game
• INDIANAPOLIS (at Carolina) – Panthers allowing 3.6 sacks/game
• NEW ORLEANS (vs Chicago) – Bears allowing 3.5 sacks/game
• LA CHARGERS at NY Jets) – Jets allowing 3.4 sacks/game

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

• MIAMI (at Kansas City) – Chiefs allowing 1.3 sacks/game
• CINCINNATI (vs Buffalo) – Bills allowing 1.5 sacks/game
• KANSAS CITY (vs Miami) – Dolphins allowing 1.5 sacks/game
• HOUSTON (vs Tampa Bay) – Buccaneers allowing 1.6 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.

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

• Carolina (vs Indianapolis) – 1.29 tackles/opp
• Atlanta (vs Minnesota) – 1.27 tackles/opp
• Las Vegas (vs NY Giants) – 1.26 tackles/opp
• New England (vs Washington) – 1.24 tackles/opp

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

• Philadelphia (vs Dallas) – 1.17 tackles/opp
• Cincinnati (vs Buffalo) – 1.18 tackles/opp
• NY Jets (vs LA Chargers) – 1.20 tackles/opp
• Kansas City (vs Miami) – 1.20 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:

• Cincinnati (vs Buffalo) – 85% solos
• Pittsburgh (vs Tennessee) – 84% solos
• NY Jets (vs LA Chargers) – 84% 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:

• Carolina (vs Indianapolis) – 55% assists
• Atlanta (vs Minnesota) – 49% assists
• Las Vegas (vs NY Giants) – 49% assists

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