Progress Reports: Third-Down Conversions

Our review of key areas in which the Bucs sought improvement in 2016 continues with one of the more critical statistics in football: third-down conversion rate, offensively and defensively.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers made real progress in 2016, most notably in the bottom line of wins and losses. In addition to improving their win total from six to nine, the Buccaneers also advanced to the cusp of the playoffs, only missing out on a postseason berth due to a third-level tiebreaker.

That the team clearly ascended this past season without quite achieving its ultimate goals suggests that there were some areas of improvement that were greater than others. Over the next two weeks we're going to use a…