INSIDE THE NUMBERS: Patriots Offense Came Up Big on 3rd Down this PreSeason
Taking a final look at the preseason, there were some things that stood out that are worth mentioning as the Patriots begin preparations to hit the field for real next Sunday down in Tennessee.
One of the biggest surprises was the fact that looking at New England's 10 longest passing plays this preseason, 6 out of their 10 longest pass plays came on 3rd down, five of which went for 20 yards or more. Not bad considering how bad they struggled to move the football during their four exhibition contests.
All three quarterbacks were over 60% on 3rd down as well, with nearly all of them finishing with the same completion percentage:
| PreSeason 3rd Down Passing Stats | |||||||
| Quarterback | Att | Comp | Yds | Comp PCT | Sk/Yds | TD | INT | R.Mallett |
| B.Hoyer | |||||||
| T.Brady | |||||||
The only disappointment is the fact that the offense didn't manage to make a big play throwing the ball, although they did manage to break off a couple of big runs. However, there were no plays that went for over 30 yards, with their longest gains of the preseason coming on two rushes of 29 yards each by runningbacks Jeff Demps and Stevan Ridley.
Ridley's no stranger to making big plays. He had 7 of the 10 longest rushes the team had last season, and appears poised to do more of the same this year.
As for the passing game, New England's longest pass play came in week 3 against the Buccaneers on a 24-yard completion to Aaron Hernandez.
You can view this preseason's complete list of longest plays via this link.
