Stat of the Week

Jun 17, 2008, 2:32:02 PM by Brad Kuhbander

31.3 DEFENSIVE THIRD-DOWN PERCENTAGE

The game of football is the ultimate team game and the goal of the defensive unit is to get the ball back for the offense. A takeaway is one way to gain possession of the pigskin, but the defense can also prevent its opponents from converting on third down. The Chiefs proved effective in holding their opponents on third down. Kansas City led the NFL in 2007 with a 31.3 third-down percentage. Chicago ranked second (32.7%) in the league, while Green Bay (33.0%) was third a year ago.

The opinions offered in this column do not necessarily reflect those of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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A eight-year veteran of the Chiefs, Kuhbander is Kansas City's Manager of Football Information. As the club's in-house "stats guru," he coordinates statistical research for the club's coaching staff and executives, in addition to performing a variety of other functions for the Public Relations Department. Every week he contributes a "Stat of the Week" and a "This Week in Chiefs History" segment for kcchiefs.com.