Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

[Joey007]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

Sure because in the same vein, the 49ers are not the NEP on offense either.

Another great point. This is why I'm not as scared of a team like SF, and terrified of a team like the Giants. The 9ers don't go deep. That's the key to beating this defense, burn them deep. This defense is actually pretty solid when it comes to 15 yards-or-less plays, and that's their style, methodically move down the field, and win the time of possesion. So when the Pats D plays offenses like theirs, they eventually make a play to stop the drive. New England's D gets beat by getting burned deep, not as often by slow, methodical drives.

 

[ATippett56]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

2012 New England Patriots Defense

Forced Fumbles

Ninkovich 4
Jones 3
Mayo 3
Spikes 2
Wilfork 1
Moore 1

2012 New England Patriots Statistics & Players - Pro-Football-Reference.com

Patrick Chung and Steve Gregory don't contribute to the turnover department. The aforementioned two have contributed zero forced fumbles and one interception. I can foresee a major upgrade necessitated at the safety position for the 2013 NFL Season.

 

[supafly]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

Another great point. This is why I'm not as scared of a team like SF, and terrified of a team like the Giants.

I agree with you 100%.

It will certainly be a test vs. the brutal 49ers defense, don't get me wrong, but I think a team like the NYG poses much more of a challenge due to being well-rounded on both sides of the ball.

 

[Kontradiction]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

That's all great, but I'd rather have a defense that consistently makes the opponent punt the ball, than one who gets a lot of takeaways. Turnovers, especially fumble recoveries, have an inherent component of luck to them. Not saying that it means our defense is without it's merits, but I just worry that on a day where our offense isn't setting the world on fire and we, for some reason, don't get the ball when it hits the ground on defense, we end up losing the game, just like it happened in the Superbowl.

It would be nice to have a defense that does both, which (I would suspect) is ultimately Belichick's goal.

 

[ivanvamp]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

uggghhh ... luck is the residue of design grasshopper..

Yes, in the big picture. But in any given moment, luck is just luck. For example, take a look at this play from the Super Bowl last year:

The Sports Swami: Nicks Fumble

There are six, count 'em, SIX, Patriots around the ballcarrier (Nicks), and no Giant in the screen whatsoever. They have Nicks surrounded, except for one little crease between Ninkovich and I think either Mark Anderson or Chung (can't tell, but there's a 5 as the second number in the uniform). Guess where the ball goes? Yep, right in that little seam, and RIGHT to a Giants player that's trailing the play but who is so far out of the play at the moment that he's not even in the picture.

That drive led to a FG that cut the Pats' lead to 17-15. It was a *huge* play in the game. The Pats made a great play, causing a fumble. They had six guys around the ball, swarming defense. And yet, the ball bounced right to a Giants player (Hynoski).

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

BB himself regularly says that winning the turnover battle has the closest correlation to winning.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

Yes, in the big picture. But in any given moment, luck is just luck. For example, take a look at this play from the Super Bowl last year:

The Sports Swami: Nicks Fumble

There are six, count 'em, SIX, Patriots around the ballcarrier (Nicks), and no Giant in the screen whatsoever. They have Nicks surrounded, except for one little crease between Ninkovich and I think either Mark Anderson or Chung (can't tell, but there's a 5 as the second number in the uniform). Guess where the ball goes? Yep, right in that little seam, and RIGHT to a Giants player that's trailing the play but who is so far out of the play at the moment that he's not even in the picture.

That drive led to a FG that cut the Pats' lead to 17-15. It was a *huge* play in the game. The Pats made a great play, causing a fumble. They had six guys around the ball, swarming defense. And yet, the ball bounced right to a Giants player (Hynoski).

Yep. That and five bucks will get us an overpriced latte at Starbucks.

 

[goheels22002]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

...and it's actually positive.


The Pats lead the league with 14 FF and 11 FR's.

That's insane. That's 3 more FR's than anyone else in the league. 20 turnovers so far counting the 9 INT's as well.

Bizarre considering how poor the back 4 have been playing. This goes to show how Spikes is truly playing at a pro bowl-caliber level. He just makes plays.

Matt Patricia must be greasing the other team's balls or something. Wait until ESPN commentator Eric rat snitch ingrate Mangini hears about this and reports it to Commissioner GoodJet - you can kiss the 2013 first round draft choice goodbye!

 

[JJDChE]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

More importantly, Jones leads all rookies with 6.0 sacks (12th in the league). He's also got 3 forced fumbles and that's good for 2nd in the league. He also has only 1 less tackle than JJ Watt. Ninko is tied for first in the league with 4 forced fumbles. If the secondary could learn to play shutdown man-to-man, this defense could be SCARY!

It's ridiculous how far under the radar Ninkovich stays. 4 forced fumbles and 4 sacks is a pretty damn good stat line. He's been playing better as the season wears on, too. He has a real good shot at leading the league in FFs. The guy just keeps getting better.

 

[Joey007]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

It's ridiculous how far under the radar Ninkovich stays. 4 forced fumbles and 4 sacks is a pretty damn good stat line. He's been playing better as the season wears on, too. He has a real good shot at leading the league in FFs. The guy just keeps getting better.

The only place Ninkovich isn't under the radar is Madden 13, he's actually 90 overall.

 

[lamafist]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

The likelihood of the defense recovering correlates most strongly with the type and location of the forced fumble, and once that's accounted for, there's virtually no correlation from team to team.

A strip sack near the line of scrimmage is about 50-50, but the odds increasingly move in the defense's favor the further back the strip sack occurs. Fumbles forced on deep passes are almost always recovered by the defense.

The Pats have been pretty fortunate recovering a higher than normal percentage of fumbles on running plays close to the line of scrimmage.

 

[UK_Pat37]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

OK. Then, what's the big deal? "We hit our opponents hard and they fumble a lot if they don't first throw the ball to receivers with ten yards of separation on our 'secondary?'"

Usually leading the league in turnovers is a pretty big deal...especially when giving ithe ball back to Tom Brady!

 

[AzPatsFan]

re: Very Staggering Stat On Defense: Pats lead NFL in Forced Fumbles & Fumble Recoveries

The turnover stats are nothing new. For the past three seasons, the Patriot's Defense has been either the top turnover Defense or damn near it.

It is a sign of team defensive speed and hitting talent.

It was also the way that BB decided he had to strip the D of its oldsters; and rebuild. Past reputations didn't mask the falling turnovers.

Bellichick beleives in "Bend but don't Break". It can make for some ugly football in the secondary; but it is effective in preventing scores, and eventually forcing turnovers. Provided the Defense is speedy and talented.

 

[nekromantique]

don't know if its been said...but I believe that's more FF and FR than all of last year.


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