Up next on the schedule for the 5-7 Indianapolis Colts are the 3-9 New England Patriots. So who has the advantage in several key, game-defining metrics?
There are, of course, ebbs and flows that will occur throughout the season but now heading into Week 13, the stats and metrics generally tell us who each team is relative to the rest of the NFL.
While, as we all know, the game isn’t played on paper, these stats at this stage of the season do carry some weight and can give us some insight into who has the advantage in key areas.
In an effort to keep things somewhat simple, I boiled this article down to the need-to-know statistics for this matchup. This includes the run game performance, passing game performance, pressures, turnovers, third down and red zone success, and points.
With help from Team Rankings and ESPN here is how the Colts matchup stat-wise in a few key categories with the Patriots:
| IND | NE | |
| Points per game | 20.2 (21st) | 16.4 (31st) |
| Points per game allowed | 22.8 (16th) | 23.5 (19th) |
| Yards per rush | 4.5 (12th) | 4.4 (15th) |
| Yards per rush allowed | 4.4 (18th) | 4.3 (12th) |
| Yards per pass attempt | 7.2 (19th) | 5.9 (31st) |
| Yards per pass attempt allowed | 7.1 (24th) | 7.2 (26th) |
| ESPN pass rush win rate | 38% (23rd) | 42% (10th) |
| ESPN pass block win rate | 52% (30th) | 50% (32nd) |
| Turnover differential | -1 (T19) | -7 (T27) |
| Third down conversion rate | 36% (23rd) | 34.2% (26th) |
| Defensive third down conversion rate | 44.6% (28th) | 39.7% (18th) |
| Red zone success rate | 52.7% (24th) | 46.8% (29th) |
| Defensive red zone success rate | 59.1% (18th) | 59.5% (19th) |