Heading into this weekend's AFC Championship there have been a lot of comparisons made between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers. After seeing the Steelers field goal festival last weekend, like most Patriots fans, I was curious to see how both teams have been in the red zone this season.
Offense- With both teams having played some games earlier in the season with a backup quarterback under center, the results for the last 3 games may be more relevant. From an offensive point of view, the Patriots are much more effective when they get into the red zone. If we look at the last three games each team played, the Patriots have scored on 21.43% more of their red zone trips. If I back that up to the last three regular season games, then the Patriots scored 66.67% of the time to the Steelers 58.33%. While that gap is much closer, it is imperative that you know who each team was playing in December. The Patriots played their last three games in Denver, at home against the Jets, and in Miami. The Steelers had a much easier schedule as they played in Cincinnati before heading home for games against the Ravens and Browns.
Sticking with the offensive point of view, the Patriots also dominate when it comes to tomorrow's playing location. For the season the Patriots have scored touchdowns on 64.71% of their red zone trips at Gillette. Meanwhile the Steelers have only walked away with 6 points on 37.04 of their red zone trips away from Pittsburgh. So, there's more proof that Big Ben isn't so great away from home.
Defense- Patriots fans believe that Matt Patricia's defense bends but doesn't break. When the offense turns over the ball in the opponents red zone, they very rarely walk away with a touchdown. Looking at this season's red zone defense, you can see how good they are. While the Steelers may have held their opponents to the lower success rate, in the past 3 games the Patriots have been incredible with allowing scores on just 28.57% of their trips. If we take the playoff games out of it and focus on each teams' regular season opponents, the Patriots opponents only scored touchdowns on 16.67% of their trips while the Steelers opponents have scored 46.67% of the time.
If you liked this post, you might check out some of my recent posts:
A LOOK AT EACH OF THE PATRIOTS' TURNOVERS
HOW ARE THE CURRENT PATRIOTS IN COLD WEATHER GAMES?
ARE TACKY RECEIVER GLOVES OUT OF CONTROL?
IS THE AFC EAST BAD?
COOL PATRIOTS' STATISTICS AFTER WEEK 15
HOW TIME ZONES AFFECT NFL OUTCOMES
If you liked this post, you might check out some of my recent posts:
A LOOK AT EACH OF THE PATRIOTS' TURNOVERS
HOW ARE THE CURRENT PATRIOTS IN COLD WEATHER GAMES?
ARE TACKY RECEIVER GLOVES OUT OF CONTROL?
IS THE AFC EAST BAD?
COOL PATRIOTS' STATISTICS AFTER WEEK 15
HOW TIME ZONES AFFECT NFL OUTCOMES
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