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Bill's take

FOXBOROUGH -- Patriots coach Bill Belichick just held his Thursday press conference (10:30 a.m. ET) and opened with the following statement:

"We're starting to work on Indianapolis' third-down package today. Offensively, they are so far ahead of everyone else in that category, it's not even really competitive for second. Very impressive. I think they've really set the standard for that offensively. Pretty good defensively, as the situations get a little bit longer, as evidenced by their pass rush and their good underneath coverage ability. That's an important phase of the game, in terms of keeping drives going and getting them off the field. That's kind of the point we're at today."

The Colts rank first in the NFL in third-down conversions, converting 50 of 86 (58 percent). The Chargers are second, converting 48 of 101 attempts (47.5 percent).

Defensively, the Colts are 31st out of 32 teams on third down, with opponents converting 39 of 81 attempts (48.1 percent).

The Patriots' third-down ranking on offense is a tie for ninth (41.2 percent), while the team's third-down defense is 15th (37.5).