3rd Down Conversions

Five games were played last night (August 13):

Green Bay Packers (17) at Cleveland Browns (27)

Buffalo Bills (3) at Chicago Bears (10)

Indianapolis Colts (10) at St. Louis Rams (33)

New York Giants (10) at Carolina Panthers (20)

Minnesota Vikings (3) at Tennessee Titans (14)

The live game last night on NFL Network (channel 212 on DirecTV) was Green Bay at Cleveland. NFL Network is showing all the preseason games (some live, most replays), so there is an opportunity to see your favorite team play the whole game instead of just catching the highlights.

The home team won all five games last night. Is this significant? It’s hard to tell during any game, but particularly in preseason. The starters typically play for one or two quarters, then come out to give the rest of the players time on the field. Does that mean the home teams last night have better depth at each position? Again, hard to say at this point. Time will tell as the preseason progresses, and we get a better look at the players on each team, and also see how the trades work out as new players learn their new team’s playbook.

In the Green Bay at Cleveland game, Green Bay scored right before halftime with a touchdown scoring drive of 9 plays that moved the ball 89 yards in 1:22 (one minute and 22 seconds). As the second quarter ended, the score was Green Bay 17, Cleveland 14. Cleveland scored in both the third and fourth quarters. Green Bay didn’t score at all in the second half. The final score: Green Bay 17, Cleveland 27.

Green Bay was 5 for 14 (5/14) on third down conversions. One of the successful conversions was during that 9 play scoring drive just before the half, at 2Q 1:34. It was 3^rd and 10, and the ball was passed for a gain of 19 yards. It was important to convert at this point; not only did Green Bay end up scoring at the end of the drive, it kept the scoring drive alive.

Third down conversions are important for several reasons: they keep a scoring drive alive, as in the Green Bay-Cleveland game; they keep the team’s forward progress and momentum going; they keep the ball in a team’s possession.

Time of possession is a stat that may or may not be relevant; it depends on what a team does with the time they control the ball that makes the difference.

Monday night's game is New York Jets at Houston Texans. The game will be shown live on ESPN.

For more information about football, Football Basics - How the American Football Game is Played is available as a Kindle ebook at Amazon. Click the book title to purchase, or visit my website www.FootballBasics.net to read an excerpt of the book.