coach Bill O’Brien: Take care of the ball, don’t let them be opportunistic
Winning the turnovers battle is key against any team. However, it’s even more so against the Patriots. If you make a mistake, the detail-orientated squad up North will take advantage of it.
No turnovers, costly penalties, errant passes, muffed punts, nothing. No mistakes.
“Yeah, you can say this for every game, but it’s especially true when you play the Patriots,” O’Brien said on Monday. “If you look at the games that they’ve won, they’ve just done a really good job of being opportunistic. They’ve blocked the punt or they’ve intercepted a pass, or they’ve batted a ball or punched a ball out, got the ball, get on a short field.”
Since 2001, the Patriots are plus-208 in the turnover battle. When they win it in individual games, they are 154-13. Through 12 weeks of 2019 play, New England leads the NFL in turnover differential, sitting at an outstanding plus-19.
“They just do a lot of things well, so you have to do a lot of things well,” continued O’Brien. “You’ve got to take care of the ball, you’ve got to be in manageable third downs, you have to cover kicks well, you have to do the best you can to try to take the ball away if you can. It’s just that type of a game, and they’re a great team. They’re 10-1 for a reason and we just need to go in there and play one play at a time.”