Week 10 Rushing Matchups

Go here for this week's Passing Matchups. 

Top 5 Rushing Matchups

NY Giants at Carolina

The Giants are fully committed to Tyrone Tracy Jr. for what will likely be the entire season, barring ineffectiveness or injury. Despite suffering a concussion in Week 8, a short week for the Giants, Tracy had 16 carries to Devin Singletary's seven carries while outsnapping Singletary 72% to 28%, which was Tracy's high of the season. While Tracy could not take advantage of the Commanders' matchup, it was more than an acceptable performance from the rookie, as he had 66 yards on 16 carries. He could not break a long run, as his longest of the day was just 10 yards after having two 25-yard carries or longer in his prior five starts this season. Meanwhile, Singletary, after a strong start to the season, just has not been able to show much of anything, as he's not being utilized in the passing game, is averaging just 3.1 yards-per-carry over the last four games, and based on the direction of the team at 2-7 seems to be a spot where they're just going to see what their rookie Tracy has for the remainder of the season.

Carolina's run defense continues to be a mess this season. On the season, they're allowing a league-leading 133 rushing yards per game to opposing running backs and 1.4 touchdowns, which also leads the NFL this season. While Carolina allows 4.6 yards per carry to opposing quarterbacks, this is made worse due to the negative game scripts they consistently find themselves in. Bryce Young will start again this week for Carolina, and with Young as the starter, this is a Panthers offense that is scoring just 11.2 points per game and has an average point differential of -22 points per game. They have lost their two best defenders, Derrick Brown and Shaq Thompson, to IR while also losing two of their starting safeties, Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott. This is a team that was talent-depleted prior to the start of the season and will likely have a significant issue this week stopping the Giants. Along the defensive line, the Panthers have a cast of journeymen in A'Shawn Robinson, Charles Harris, and DeShawn Williams, who the Panthers signed off of the Bills practice squad earlier this season.

Chicago vs New England

D'Andre Swift's 100 total-yard streak was snapped last week as the entire Bears offense struggled last week as Chicago lost 29-9. Like most of the offense, Swift struggled, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry and gaining just 51 yards. The good news going forward for D'Andre Swift is that despite the game script getting out of hand for Chicago. Swift had 22 touches last week in a game that Chicago lost by 20. At 4-4, Chicago's primary objective for this season is to develop Caleb Williams, and abandoning a rushing offense was something that we saw early this season that hindered the entire Bears offense. The Bears had a significant loss at right tackle as Darnell Wright missed last week, and so far, could be without both tackles this week as Darnell Wright and Braxton Jones did not practice on Wednesday. It would be a significant loss if both were to miss, as this is not a deep unit. The good news is that they should get Ryan Bates back from injured reserve this week, as he was a full participant on Wednesday after being designated to return from a shoulder injury.

After a strong start to the season, New England's run defense has fallen on hard times. New England has allowed eight running backs to top 75 rushing yards or more over the last six games, with four of those topping 100 yards. Since Week 4, New England has allowed a league-leading 152 rushing yards per game. It's difficult to understate the loss of Jabril Peppers, who was placed on the Commissioner's Exemption list while dealing with legal issues and will likely miss the remainder of the season. New England has already lost run-stopper and captain Ja'Whaun Bentley to a season-ending torn pectoral back in Week 2. Losing their top two captains and run-stoppers, the Patriots seemingly do not have an identity, as they're relying on one of the league's worst linebacking groups between Jahlani Tavai, Raekwon McMillan, and Christian Elliss. Unless New England can start getting better play from their defensive line, they're going to continue to be amongst the worst group in the NFL.

Atlanta at New Orleans

Despite his early season success, Tyler Allgeier's role in the Falcons offense appears to be fairly predictable. Unless there is a game in which Atlanta gets out to a big lead, he's likely going to see 5-9 carries, with Bijan Robinson seeing the primary workload. In Atlanta's two games that they had control over, this is where Allgeier saw more than ten carries, as he had 12 carries in Week 8 against Tampa Bay and 18 carries against Carolina. Both were games that Atlanta led by two touchdowns heading into the fourth quarter. Robinson has been one of the league's most efficient running backs, averaging 4.7 yards per carry, and has a heavy involvement in both the rushing attack and as a receiver, as he has seven receptions in each of his last two games. The Falcons have one of the league's best offensive lines, with right guard Chris Lindstrom and left tackle Jake Matthews being two of the best at their position. This unit ranks as Footballguys' Offensive Line Expert Matt Bitonti's second-best offensive line heading into Week 10.

New Orleans is in a bit of a free fall at the moment. After starting 2-0, New Orleans has now dropped seven in a row, including a 23-22 loss against Carolina last week. New Orleans is allowing 5.2 yards per carry since Week 4, allowing the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs. The Saints rely heavily on 35-year-old Demario Davis, who has fallen off considerably in 2024 after five straight All-Pro seasons. The defensive line has not helped as the team has consistently dealt with salary cap issues, causing the team to have to rebuild this defensive line, which has left significant holes. Defensive tackles have been a major issue for New Orleans. 2023 first-round pick Bryan Bresee is amongst the worst run-stoppers in the NFL this season, while Nathan Shepherd and Khalen Saunders have both struggled. With the Saints trading long-timer corner Marshon Lattimore, this will put additional pressure on the safety teams to focus on stopping the pass, and we just have to wonder how motivated this team is after firing Dennis Allen this past week.