Patriots have been plagued by third-down struggles
By Zach Kruse
The New England Patriots are struggling to convert on third down since losing a laundry list of Tom Brady’s favorite receivers.
According to Tom E. Curran of CSN New England, the Patriots are just 15 for 52 (28.8 percent) on third down since injuries began decimating the team’s passing game roughly 15 quarters ago. Receiver Julian Edelman broke his foot against the New York Giants, Danny Amendola went down against the Buffalo Bills and Rob Gronkowski exited New England’s loss to the Denver Broncos. Throw in Dion Lewis, Brady’s go-to running back who tore his ACL a few weeks back, and the Patriots have struggled to make good on the game’s biggest down.
Over the last three games, New England ranks 28th in the NFL in third down percentage.
Brady thinks that struggles on early downs are leading to bigger problems.
“It’s third down, but if you look at statistically, it’s first and second down (failures) that lead to long third downs and nobody’s good at third-and-8-plus in the NFL,” Brady said. “It’s a passing down, the coverage is too tight, the rush is too good. If you make one or two of those a game it’s usually pretty good for an offense.”
Against the Philadelphia Eagles last Sunday, New England converted on just 7 of 17 third downs. Eight different times, the Patriots faced third downs of 10 or more yards, per Curran. That inefficiency led to six punts, including one blocked for a touchdown before the half. The Denver Broncos were even better against the Patriots, holding New England to just 2 of 13 conversions on third down.
The Houston Texans figure to make life even more difficult for the Patriots on Monday night.
Through 13 weeks, the Texans rank first in the NFL on third down. Opponents are picking up first downs on only 28.7 percent of their third down opportunities.
At home in Houston, where the two teams will meet Monday, the Texans have allowed conversions on just 18.9 percent of third downs. That figure ranks first in the NFL by almost six percentage points.
Brady knows his offense has a huge challenge in front of them.
“(The Texans) have forced more teams into (third-and-long) than any other team in the league,” said Brady. “They just have done a great job of negative plays on first and second down, whether that’s in the run game or sacks, the lowest completion percentage.”
The Texans have 30 sacks and an opponent completion percentage of just 59.3.
New England will need to be good on first and second down to avoid difficult third down situations on Monday night. If not, the Texans might feast on an offense struggling to move the sticks.
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