The Saints were excellent on third down yesterday against the Carolina Panthers, converting twelve of their seventeen opportunities for a 71% conversion percentage. That also includes converting four out of five 3rd and 1 plays, a nice improvement on their short yardage woes. Here's a little closer look at how all those third downs break down.
On third down, the Saints gained 154 yards, most of that through the air, and used seven different players to accomplish it. Here's how it breaks down per player. You can see how much the Saints rely on Graham and Sproles when they really need to pick up a first down.
Jimmy Graham - 5 plays - 59 yards - 80% conversion
Darren Sproles - 5 plays - 45 yards - 40% conversion
Marques Colston - 2 plays - 28 yards - 100% conversion
Lance Moore - 1 play - 11 yards - 100% conversion
Mark Ingram - 2 plays- 10 yards - 100% conversion
Jed Collins - 1 play - 1 yard- 100% conversion
Pierre Thomas - 1 play - 0 yards - 0% conversion
Make the jump to see each third down play of the matchup from the official NFL Game Book.
3-1-CAR 1 (13:50) D.Brees pass short left to J.Collins for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN
3-1-CAR 47 (:29) D.Sproles left guard to CAR 48 for -1 yards (T.McClain)
3-1-NO 40 (2:36) D.Sproles up the middle to NO 46 for 6 yards (C.Godfrey)
3-1-CAR 41 (13:47) M.Ingram up the middle to CAR 33 for 8 yards (G.Hardy; J.Williams)
3-1-CAR 17 (2:00) M.Ingram up the middle to CAR 15 for 2 yards (J.Anderson)
3-3-CAR 6 (6:52) D.Brees pass short right to J.Graham to CAR 2 for 4 yards (C.Godfrey, O.Gaither)
3-3-NO 18 (5:53) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short middle to J.Graham to NO 30 for 12 yards (C.Godfrey)
3-4-CAR 5 (6:22) D.Brees pass incomplete short left to J.Graham (C.Godfrey)
3-4-NO 26 (2:02) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short left to J.Graham to NO 44 for 18 yards (D.Butler)
3-6-NO 24 (11:15) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short left to M.Colston ran ob at NO 39 for 15 yards (S.Martin)
3-7-CAR 38 (9:09) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short right to J.Graham to CAR 13 for 25 yards (J.Pugh)
3-8-NO 16 (12:49) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short middle to M.Colston to NO 29 for 13 yards (S.Martin)
3-8-CAR 19 (11:32) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short left to P.Thomas to CAR 19 for no gain (D.Butler
3-9-NO 49 (8:07) (Shotgun) D.Sproles right tackle to CAR 28 for 23 yards (C.Johnson)
3-10-NO 39 (10:44) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short left to D.Sproles to NO 44 for 5 yards (S.Martin)
3-11-NO 45 (1:17) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short right to L.Moore to CAR 44 for 11 yards (C.Gamble)
3-20-CAR 40 (:18) (Shotgun) D.Brees pass short left to D.Sproles to CAR 28 for 12 yards (J.Anderson).Timeout #2 by CAR at 00:0