The Patriots played well against the Steelers Thursday night, and Brady’s effectiveness throwing the football, coupled with the success the team had running the ball, lead to a night where they moved the ball with precision and went on to finish with an opening night win to kickoff 2015.
They converted 7-of-11 on third down against Pittsburgh, and after going through the numbers, here’s a quick look at how it broke down based on the different situations and distances they faced, along with who moved the chains:
3rd-and-1: 3/3 (100%)
– Brady had a QB sneak in the 1ST QTR, along with another in the 2nd QTR to move the chains.
– Rob Gronkowski’s 4th QTR touchdown from the 1yd line, which also counts as a conversion under the league’s stats.
3rd-and-2: 1/1 (100%) – A 9-yard reverse by wide receiver Julian Edelman to start the 2nd QTR kept the drive going and lead to Gronkowski’s first touchdown of the night.
3rd-and-3: 0/1 (0%) – Brady sacked in the 3rd QTR
3rd-and-4: 0/1 (0%) – Brady incomplete in the 4th QTR to Dion Lewis
3rd-and-5: 2/2 (100%)
– A 10-yard reception to Edelman in the 3rd QTR, which helped move the chains and eventually finished with Scott Chandler’s touchdown.
– Dion Lewis had a 19-yard reception in the 4th QTR that he fumbled and Gronkowski appeared to recover it in the end zone. That play was overturned after the officials ruled Gronkowski recovered it but didn’t get in.
3rd-and-6: 1/1 – 8-yard pass to Julian Edelman in the 2nd QTR, which came three plays after the earlier mentioned reverse he ran during that same scoring drive.
3rd-and-7: N/A
3rd-and-8: N/A
3rd-and-9: N/A
3rd-and-10: 0/1 – Brady sacked in the 1st QTR
3rd-and-10+: 0/1 – On a 3rd-and-12 Brady missed a pass to Brandon Bolden in the 4th QTR
Overall the Patriots converted a total of 26 first downs Thursday night, 19 receiving, 5 rushing the football and 2 via penalty. However, it was 9 short of the record 35 they set back in 2012.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
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