I disagree Sir. How does one get to third and long? Usually by creating stops on first and second down. If you have a defense that is easy to run on, maybe you never see a third and long. In that situation, those corners are sitting on the bench. Third down is important, but I would challenge convential thinking by saying that first down performance is a better indicator of defensive success. Obviously, a bad first down team can be excellent on third down--but I think this is rare. Will have to check the stats for facts but I this is what I would expect to find. What do you think?
