Monday, November 26, 2012

Third-down woes continue to doom Bills, Jets

BY NICK ST. DENIS

The Buffalo Bills entered Sunday's AFC contest against the Indianapolis Colts with the NFL's worst third-down defense, and they made good on their reputation.

Buffalo allowed the Colts to convert on eight of 16 third-down attempts. Conversely, the Bills moved the chains on just four of 13 third-down tries. (photo: Chris Seward, Flickr)

The New York Jets haven't been able to get off the field lately, either.

Gang Green used to pride themselves on maximizing their offense's opportunities with shut-down defense, but now they boasts the second-worst third-down defense in the league and got torched by the Patriots on third down Thursday night. New England was 11-for-15 in such situations.

New York also converted on just three of 10 offensive third-down attempts despite going against New England's third-worst unit in that category.

The Patriots have been able to make up for their obvious shortcomings on defense with timely turnovers and an offense that converts third downs at a stellar 53.2-percent clip.

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