Belichick: Patriots third-down defense ‘not good enough'

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FOXBORO -- The Patriots know that despite the fact they are headed to the AFC Championship Game, Saturday's win over the Chiefs was far from perfect.

One area of the game where the Patriots struggled was defensively on third down. They allowed Kansas City to convert on 12-of-20 third-down opportunities (and 1-of-2 fourth-down tries), which led to their defense to play a season-high 89 snaps.

"Third-down, I'd say a combination of a number of things," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said on a conference call on Sunday. "At times it was not enough rush. At times it was a good rush and not enough coverage or losing leverage on coverage.

"There were some obviously good plays by the Chiefs. They ran some good routes, made some tough catches in traffic. [Alex] Smith made some good throws. We were close on a few of those, but not close enough. But it was good execution on their part so I’d say a combination of all those things. But giving up 60 percent on third-down is not good enough."

On 15 third-down drop-backs, Smith completed eight passes for 105 yards, resulting in seven conversions. He also ran for first-down gains of 15 yards, 7 yards and 2 yards to convert on third-down attempts. 

Patriots corner Logan Ryan was in coverage for a handful of those third-down conversions (and a fourth-down conversion in the fourth quarter), and admitted after the game that there was room for improvement. According to Pro Football Focus, he was targeted 10 times over the course of the game and allowed eight receptions. 

"I think we can get better," he said. "I do. Third down is a little bit on us, and I think it starts with me. I think we can be a little tighter, but those guys made great plays. It's playoff football, man. We just have to come up with more of those third downs so we don't have to play as much. But I think that we showed a lot of fight. In nobody's eyes felt like we were going to lose that game or any type of give-up or anything like that."

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