JMC00
Pro Bowl Player
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.But can they get off the field without the turnovers?
The Pats defense has forced as many fumbles as Chicago (17-which is the most in the league) and recovered 13 of them. Chicago has only recovered 11.
They have actually forced more fumbles through 9 games than they did all last year (10)
At least this D is doing something well.
Bill Belichick opened his press conference yesterday talking about how the turnovers were important and he often calls turnovers the most important statistic right after points.
Against the Bills, the Patriots won the turnover battle 3-0 and won the game. Against the Cardinals they lost the turnover battle and they lost.
The Patriots are #1 in the league in takeaway ratio and have the most opportunistic defense in the league. They practice it and they execute strips and interceptions. The Patriots are quick and aggressive to the ball on fumbles. They led the AFC last year as well.
A previous poster commented that you cannot count on turnovers - well, yes you can. They are as much a part of the game as every other play.
Re: the bolded part. Actually, you can't. Interceptions might be one thing, and forced fumbles might be one thing, but recovered fumbles....no way you can count on those. One only needs to look at the last 3 Giants-Pats games to see that.
2007 - SB
NE forces 2 NYG fumbles, but the Giants recover both
NYG force 1 NE fumble, and the Giants recover it
2011 - Regular season
NE forces 2 NYG fumbles, and each team recovers one
NYG force 2 NE fumbles, and the Giants recover both
2011 - SB
NE forces 2 NYG fumbles, but the Giants recover both
NYG force 0 NE fumbles
So over these three games, the Patriots forced 6 Giant fumbles, but only recovered 1 of them. Meanwhile, the Giants only forced 3 Patriot fumbles, but recovered all 3.
So of the 9 total fumbles in those 3 games, the Giants only caused 3 (33.3%) of them, but they recovered 8 (88.9%) of them.
The randomness of the way a football bounces on the ground is perhaps the biggest reason why the Patriots do not have 5 SB titles.
Maybe it's because they have more chances to cause fumbles since they can't ever get off the damn field.
The reason for this is Brandon Spikes.
An interesting factoid, particularly since I'm defending the defensive coaching in another thread:
The Patriots did not have a single "clean" stop of a Bills drive yesterday, with the exception of the first Bills drive of the second half. The drives that didn't result in a score were stopped either by turnover or by Bills penalties changing down/distance situations.
First drive - 3rd and 1 becomes 3rd and 16 after 2 Bills penalties
Second drive - Strip sack and fumble recovery
Third drive - Buffalo moves from own 20 to NE 21 and gets FG
Fourth drive - Buffalo gets ball on own 20 and scores TD
Fifth drive - Buffalo gets ball on own 20 and scores TD
Sixth drive - First of second half, Patriots defense does job, Bills do commit penalty
Seventh drive - Buffalo gets ball on own 16 and scores TD
Eighth drive - Buffalo gets ball on own 6, fumbles on Patriots 13
Ninth drive - Buffalo gets ball on NE 45 and scores TD
Tenth drive - Buffalo gets ball on own 20, INT by McCourty seals win
Fred Jackson fumbled on the New England Patriots 1 yard line.Eighth drive - Buffalo gets ball on own 6, fumbles on Patriots 13
Fred Jackson fumbled on the New England Patriots 1 yard line.
Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots - November 11th, 2012 - Pro-Football-Reference.com
It would be nice if the New England Patriots defense could win the field position battle in the fourth quarter of football games, let alone shutout opponents in the fourth quarter.
jmt57 said:Quote:
Originally Posted by randomk1
But can they get off the field without the turnovers?
Not really ... though I have to admit that I am surprised to see that the Giants are one of the teams that force their opponents to punt less often than the Patriots do.
NFL Football Stats - NFL Team Opponent Punt Attempts per Game on TeamRankings.com