THIRD DOWN AND THE PATRIOTS

If you've read my blog before, you probably know I pay a lot of attention to third downs and the dreaded 3 and out. If you watch any amount of football, you have observed how a 3 and out can completely change the dynamics of a game. In addition to wearing out the defensive team by putting them right back on the field, it also prevents coordinators from making some needed adjustments and allows the opponent to flip the field without having a spectacular special teams play. With my team 7-2, why am I concerned with this?

Guess who is ranked 28th of 32 teams with the most 3 and outs? Yep, my beloved Patriots are punting the ball back to their opponent on play #4 of a quarter of their drives. What makes this statistic so bizarre is that the Patriots are ranked 2nd in the league when it come to third down efficiency. So, pretty much we either punt immediately or make the chain gang earn their paychecks.

Let me apologize now for my horrible tables (blogging from my phone). All data is from sportingcharts.

Three and Outs
Year. Rank. %
2016 28. 24.74
2015 10 19.27
2014 23 22.65
2013 3 18.41
2012 1 12.37
2011 5 15.56
2010 10. 20.48
2009 3 16.85

Third Down Efficiency
Year. Rank. %
2016. 2. 48.3
2015. 11. 40.9
2014. 7. 44.3
2013. 15. 37.6
2012. 1. 48.7
2011. 4. 45.9
2010. 2. 48.2
2009. 8. 43.7

Opponent Third Down Efficiency
Year. Rank. %
2016. 22. 41.5
2015. 10. 37.3
2014. 16. 40.2
2013. 26. 42.2
2012. 22. 40
2011. 28. 43.1
2010. 32. 47.1
2009. 12. 37.1

Some of my older posts about the Patriots and third downs.
http://www.bostonsportschick.com/blog/september-30th-2014
​http://www.bostonsportschick.com/blog/third-down-no-problem-for-patriots