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Los Angeles Rams @ Carolina Panthers
Chuba Hubbard leads the Panthers backfield: Hubbard played more than 50% of Carolina’s offensive snaps for the first time since Week 8.
Hubbard began the season as the Panthers’ starter, while Rico Dowdle played on third downs and was the primary backup. Hubbard missed Weeks 5 and 6, where Dowdle ran 53 times for 389 yards and a touchdown while catching seven passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. Hubbard rMaineHe was the starter for his first two weeks back, but Dowdle continued to beat him on fewer carries.
This led Dowdle to take over in Week 9. Dowdle’s playing time increased to 79.2% of offensive snaps in Week 10 and 82.5% in Week 11, but his yards per carry dropped to 2.9 and 2.4 in those games. Hubbard got the Panthers’ third down last week to even things up. Carolina only ran 43 plays last week and they were behind on all of those plays, so Dowdle didn’t get many opportunities.
Dowdle started this week, but after a few touches Hubbard stepped in. Hubbard gained seven yards on his first carry, six on his second and caught a 35-yard pass to cap the first drive. Dowdle remained the primary early down for the remainder of the game, but Hubbard blended in more on early downs than he had in recent weeks after being dealt the hot hand. Hubbard remained the third down back and Carolina ran 13 plays in those situations.
The two-split holds for the rest of the game, but Hubbard ended up getting more yards. Carolina has a bye next week, which will give the team time to think about how to split snaps between the two running backs. Dowdle will likely keep the starting job, but Hubbard will continue to play on third downs and mix it up more than he had been on early downs. Both running backs are at least worth considering for fantasy starting lineups, but Dowdle will no longer be a must-start player.
Xavier Smith plays a bigger role in the Rams’ offense: Smith led the team in receiving yards with 82 on three receptions.
The Rams started the season with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams as their top two receivers, while Jordan Whittington and Tutu Atwell battled for the third receiver spot. Konata Mumpfield and Smith rounded out the depth chart. Atwell spent some time on injured reserve, while Whittington spent some time injured midway through the season.
Mumpfield has gained notable playing time in the Rams’ 13-man squad. The Rams haven’t used 13 personnel at all through the first five weeks, but have used them 138 times over the past seven games. Mumpfield was on the field for more than half of those plays. Smith played more in three-receiver sets, especially in Weeks 7 and 10.
This week, Atwell appeared to be on the verge of returning to the 53-man roster. He returned to practice from injured reserve on Wednesday and was a full participant in practice all week, but he was not activated to the 53-man roster for this game. Mumpfield (calf) and Smith (concussion) both suffered from injuries in the build-up to the match. Smith missed last week, but both wide receivers were active for this game.
Nacua and Adams remained the top two wide receivers, while Mumpfield remained the 13-man wide receiver on 80% of those plays. The Rams turned their third spot into three-receiver sets. Whittington had played 88.4% of 11-man snaps in his last five healthy games, but he played just 43.9% of those snaps in this game. Smith took 48.8% and Mumpfield played 26.8%. Whittington being on the field usually meant a run play, while Smith’s presence usually led to passes.
Given Mumpfield’s clear role and Smith’s big game, it’s possible that Whittington and Atwell will compete for a spot on game day in the future, rather than fighting for a starting job.
Miscellaneous notes
- The Panthers ran a season-high 17 plays from single-receiver sets, and Brycen Tremayne played every snap. Tetairoa McMillan played a career-low 73.4% of offensive snaps despite playing 100% of snaps in two- and three-receiver sets for the fifth straight game. Xavier Legette didn’t see the drop in snaps as dramatically, as he played 88.6% of 11-player snaps, his most in a game since Week 8.
- Carolina tight end James Mitchell was a healthy inactive after six straight games, giving the Panthers four tight ends this week.
- Rams backup running back Blake Corum has played between 30-40% of the Rams’ offensive snaps each of the last four weeks. In the first nine weeks he exceeded 30% only once.
- The Rams signed Nick Vannett from Minnesota’s practice squad on Wednesday. Tyler Higbee landed on injured reserve over a week ago, so Vannett is the new fourth tight end. While active, he did not play any offense.
- Los Angeles used more 11 personnel this week than in other recent weeks, leading to a decrease in playing time for both Davis Allen and Terrance Ferguson, along with a slight increase for Colby Parkinson.
- The Rams waived kicker Joshua Karty on Friday, meaning Harrison Mevis would remain Los Angeles’ kicker going forward.
San Francisco 49ers @ Cleveland Browns
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Table notes
- Snaps include plays called back due to penalties, including offensive holding or defensive pass interference. These plays have been removed from the other three statistics.
- Objectives may differ from official NFL sources. The most likely discrepancy would be due to an obviously thrown pass, where the NFL could give the target to the nearest receiver, while this data does not.
- Carries are only possible on designed plays. Quarterback scrambles do not count toward the total number of carries in the game.
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