Third Down and Red Zone Defense Come Up Huge for Patriots

AP Photo: John Bazemore

The Patriots defense faced its biggest test so far this season in the Atlanta Falcons last night. While they gave up a lot of yardage, particularly during the Falcons late comeback attempt, the defense's stellar performance in two key areas fueled the 30-23 win.

Atlanta was 6-14 (42%) on third down and 0-2 on fourth down. Most importantly, they scored a touchdown on only one of their six trips to the red zone.

In what ended up being a one-possession game, it's impossible to overstate the importance of those red zone stops. A good defense steps up and makes plays when it absolutely has to. The Patriots did just that on Sunday night, with no play more important than Aqib Talib's game clinching pass deflection on the Falcons final fourth down play.

Of course, getting off the field on third down is the best way for a defense to limit points. The Patriots defensive performance on third down was even more impressive when you consider that three of the Falcons six conversions came on one drive in the second quarter. Excluding that bad possession, the Falcons conversion rate plummets to 3-10.

A lot of factors contributed to the defensive performance. The front seven held up well against the run, holding the Falcons to 58 yards on 15 carries. The pass rush only generated two sacks but consistently got close to Matt Ryan, keeping him from having the time to attack downfield for much of the night. Finally, the secondary got a virtuoso performance from cornerback Aqib Talib, whose press coverage skills helped keep Julio Jones down for most of the night. Jones wound up with a 100 yard game thanks to a brilliant 49 yard catch on the game's final drive (you simply have to tip your cap to Jones there, as he made a great play against tight coverage), but prior to that catch had merely 5 catches (on 12 targets) for 59 yards.

Talib's ability in coverage against Jones also allowed the Patriots to devote more attention to Tony Gonzalez late. Gonzo proved time and time again throughout the game that he would make plays regardless of how tight coverage was (and it was tight on most of his 12 catches). The Patriots responded on the final two possessions with double coverage and physical chipping at the line, designed to keep the future Hall-of-Famer from getting a clean release. The result was two big red zone stops on the final two possessions to preserve the win.

Most importantly, we are seeing these performances turn into a trend for this defense. After starting the year giving up touchdowns on 3 of 4 red zone possessions their first two games, the "D" has now gotten a stop on seven of its last 8 red zone drives. Likewise, the third down defense has now allowed conversions on merely 21 of 59 plays, good for a stingy 35% rate.