3rd Down Issues

TheCount

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So I'm generally pretty happy with the team, they've been finding ways and even if it's not pretty, getting the job done. The one thing that truly bugs me, however, is 3rd down efficiency lately.

I don't know just how close the correlation is between 3rd down success and our proficiency at making dumb mistakes at critical times, even against the Raiders we killed several of our own drives (especially early) with dumb penalties. A big play was often closely followed up by a penalty that threw everything off whack.

Anyway, I decided to look back at the numbers since the bye:

Raiders: 4 of 12 (Opponent: 4 of 14) 33%
Washington: 3 of 11 (Opponent: 7 of 15) 27%
Packers: 3 of 12 (Opponent: 7 of 15) 25%
Eagles: 7 of 15 (Opponent: 4 of 12) 47%
Seahawks: 7 of 13 (Opponent: 6 of 14) 53%
Falcons: 6 of 13 (Opponent: 6 of 12) 46%

It's pretty clear to see when our offensive struggles began we also stopped converting 3rd downs at an elite level. I say elite because the Colts are #1 at 50% for the year and the Saints are at #2 with 47% (oddly enough the Dolphins are smack dab in the middle of the two at 49%, but they have some tough losses including a 4 point loss to the Colts early in addition to having the Saints on the ropes till their defense caved).

The team really needs to get it closer to 50 than 30. Some notable teams in the 30% region are the Bucs, Rams, and Jets.

We are ranked 18th overall in the league at 3rd down conversions, a number that must have gone down over the last few weeks but for December, I think it will be crucial to bump that number if we want this year to be special.
 

EasyMoney

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TheCount, there is a reason. After the Eagles game the rest of the teams followed suit and Garrett has been trying different scenario's to overcome the blitz's. The problem is Romo's not threading the needle and Roy isn't catching the ball up the middle. The middle of the field is where you concentrate when being blitzed and yes we've been horrible at it. Plus, we get penalized alot on 3rd downs which makes even tougher to over come.

I'm really more concerned with our defense giving up 3rd and long plays. We give way to much cushion.
 
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