< Back to Front Page Text size – +

X's and O's: Negative plays

Email|Link|Comments (1) Posted by Mike Reiss, Globe Staff September 7, 2008 10:45 AM

ANALYSIS

FOXBOROUGH -- One area to watch today will be the Patriots' ability to avoid negative plays, specifically in the running game.

The Chiefs ranked first in the NFL last season in third-down defense, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick made the point that a big part of that was the Chiefs' ability to create negative plays on first and second down. Belichick cited that Kansas City also ranked first in that category -- creating negative plays.

The Patriots' offense struggled in the preseason with negative plays.

In the running game alone, the Patriots had 10 negative running plays in the preseason. There were seven other running plays that went for no gain. So of a total of 97 running plays during the preseason, the Patriots did not gain yardage on 17 of them.

In one respect, those stats must be kept in context, as some of the negative runs came with players who are not on the roster at this time. At the same time, the percentage of running plays that gained negative or no yardage was too high.

» Back to Front Page

1 comments so far...

I really don't like the idea of hanging this banner. The Patriots are a dynasty and the model franchise of the NFL and at this point they should only celebrate championships, period.

Posted by C.C. McC September 7, 08 11:40 AM

DO NOT HIT THE SUBMIT BUTTON MORE THAN ONCE!

You must be logged in to submit a comment.

This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.

Mike Reiss, Christopher L. Gasper and the rest of the Globe team provide regular updates –and a behind-the-scenes look– on the daily happenings of the Patriots.

see all globe blogs