Tag: Turnovers

Takeaways are great, but Sean Payton doesn’t want them to dictate Broncos’ record

“The better teams will have one or two wins, even when they lose [the turnover battle],” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

After starting 1-5 under coach Sean Payton last season, the Denver Broncos went on an impressive 5-0 run that was fueled by turnovers.

“I think the biggest thing that stood out was at that 1-5 benchmark — there were two things, really,” Payton said during his end-of-season press conference on Jan. 9. “We rapidly changed how we took the ball away, and then we began to protect the ball. Man, that was a deciding factor in a few games for us — the turnover ratio. When you look at the exact numbers, prior to that, they weren’t really good. I think that was a big reason behind our spark, if you will, of winning five games in a row — creating field position.” 

Turnovers, both protecting the ball and forcing takeaways, are crucial for any NFL team and they helped the Broncos go on a run in 2023. Going into the 2024 campaign, Payton wants Denver to reach a level of being able to overcome not winning the turnover battle on a week-to-week basis.

“[When] the season ended, we were a [winning] team when we won the turnover battle,” Payton said. “We were 8-1 when winning it, and I believe we were 0-8 when it was even, or we didn’t win it. That’s pretty typical of a team that’s right in the middle of the pack, if you will.

“The better teams will have one or two wins, even when they lose it [the turnover battle]. Then the teams way down at the bottom might lose even when they win it. If we won it, chances are we won the game, but if we were even, I don’t think we won a game where it was even. I think there were one or two examples where it was even, and we didn’t win.”

The Broncos ended the season tied for 12th with 26 takeaways. Denver led the league with 15 fumble recoveries, a stat that undoubtedly involves some luck. The ball won’t always bounce the Broncos’ way, and while takeaways are obviously a positive, Payton doesn’t want the team’s win-loss record to be dictated by fluky turnovers.

Denver needs to learn how to win when they lose the turnover battle. Otherwise, as Payton said, the Broncos will remain “right in the middle of the pack.” Payton’s expectations are higher than a middle of the pack finish in 2024.

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Broncos’ interception leaders from 2023 season

Justin Simmons led the Broncos with 3 interceptions this season and he now ranks seventh on the team’s all-time INTs list with 30.

We continue our look at the Denver Broncos’ statistical leaders from the 2023 season today with a quick list of the team’s interceptions leaders.

It’s no surprise that safety Justin Simmons (three) led the team in 2023. Simmons has now recorded double-digit INTs in each of his eight seasons in the NFL. The veteran safety has had at least three INTs every year from 2018-2023 and he ranks seventh on the team’s all-time INTs list with 30.

Behind Simmons this year was cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian (two) and safety Kareem Jackson (two). Cornerback Pat Surtain, safety P.J. Locke, cornerback Fabian Moreau and pass rusher Jonathon Cooper each grabbed one interception.

The team’s 11 total interceptions this season ranked 19th in the league, so there’s definitely room for improvement going into 2024. Almost half the league (15 teams) totaled at least 15 INTs in 2023 and two teams recorded 22 INTs.

Check out previous lists of the team’s passing and rushing leaders. Here’s a quick look at their interception leaders in 2023.

2023 Minnesota Vikings by The Numbers

The 2023 season for the Minnesota Vikings was one that can’t be forgotten.

Since 2017, there have been 65 teams that have had a winning streak of five or more in a single season. Only ten failed to make the playoffs, including three from 2023: The Denver Broncos, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings.

Minnesota’s run is a bit more impressive due to two of the wins being with a quarterback in Josh Dobbs, who was in the building for less than two weeks. Like the other two teams, however, the Vikings were victims of a crushing late-season collapse that took them out of the playoff race. 

Don’t let the ending take away from another memorable season for the Vikings.

What started as a simple quest for answers for the franchise’s future became an adventure for the ages, littered with twists and turns suitable for the Alex Rider series. While the ride ended disappointingly, the numbers from this season may have helped the front office to their answers after all.

To explain, we will split this season into four quarters and explain the numbers that coincide with each quarter to come to a conclusion for the future of the Vikings.

(All statistics are from Pro-Football-Reference via Stathead or rbsdm.com, unless otherwise stated.)

Can Packers win all-important turnover battle vs. 49ers in divisional round?

Winning the ball will be a huge part of any winning blueprint for the Packers in the NFC Divisional Round against the 49ers.

Turnovers remain one of the biggest winning factors in football, so it’s hardly surprising that the turnover battle looks like it could be a deciding factor when Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers play Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Divisional Round on Saturday.

Coach Matt LaFleur calls the turnover battle “winning the ball.” The Packers must find a way to win the ball to upset the 49ers.

Consider the following…

— the Packers are 6-1 when they don’t turn the ball over this season. Three of the team’s biggest wins — vs. the Chiefs, Lions and Cowboys — came when the Packers finished with zero turnovers.

— The Packers are 1-6 when Jordan Love throws an interception. The only win? A massive fourth-quarter comeback against the Saints.

— The Packers are 5-1 when they get two or more takeaways. Included in the five wins are big wins over the Chiefs, Vikings and Cowboys.

— The 49ers are 8-0 when they don’t turn the ball over this season and 4-5 when they turn it over at least once.

— The 49ers are 9-1 when they create at least two takeaways and 3-4 when they get one or fewer.

— The 49ers are 9-1 when they win the turnover battle. The only loss was a fluky defeat to the Browns when they missed a late field goal.

— The 49ers are 10-0 when Brock Purdy does not throw an interception and 2-5 when he throws one or more, including an 0-3 mark when he throws two or more interceptions.

A few other things to consider:

— The 49ers led the NFL in interceptions during the regular season with 22. They have five players with multiple interceptions and 10 players with at least one interception.

— Love has thrown one interception in his last nine games. From Week 11 on, Love has only seven “turnover-worthy plays,” per PFF, or less than one per game. The majority have been fumbles instead of risky passes.

— The Packers delivered only 18 takeaways in 2023, including just seven interceptions. But Jaire Alexander had an interception setting up a touchdown and Darnell Savage produced a game-changing pick-six in the win over the Cowboys.

— Purdy has thrown six interceptions since Week 10, but PFF charted only four “turnover worthy plays,” the fewest among qualified quarterbacks. He was a bit unlucky on a few turnovers down the stretch.

— Purdy fumbled six times but lost only two in 2023. Love fumbled nine times and lost three.

— Under pressure, Purdy has 11 turnover worthy plays (11th most) and a turnover worthy play percentage of 5.4 (18th). Love has nine turnover worthy plays (9th most) and a turnover worthy play percentage of 4.2 (10th), so he’s actually been a little better at protecting the ball under duress this season.

— The 49ers get their hands on a lot of footballs. They batted 11 passes, defensed 42 passes and forced incompletions on 54 attempts. Charvarius Ward led the NFL with 23 passes defensed in 2023, and his five interceptions ranked tied for fourth.

— Per pro-football-reference.com, the 49ers were fifth in passes defensed and third in interception percentage. The Packers ranked 23rd in passes defensed and 31st in interception percentage.

— The Packers had more defensive touchdowns, 3-1. Green Bay got pick-sixes from Quay Walker and Savage and a fumble return from Jonathan Owens. The 49ers got a pick-six from Ward.

4 Vikings offensive keys in Week 14 vs. Raiders

The Vikings offense is struggling and they will need to perform well to beat the Raiders on Sunday

After having a bye week to lick their wounds from the two previous defeats, the Minnesota Vikings are back in action, this time on the road. Minnesota takes on the Las Vegas Raiders in Allegiant Stadium at 3:05 p.m. CST.

The Vikings offense struggled mightily in their two losses just before the bye week. In weeks 11 and 12, the Vikings’ offense was tied for 29th in EPA/play with the Cleveland Browns and in front of only the Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets.

Since cutting bait with Josh McDaniels and that regime, the Raiders’ defense has come alive.

Minnesota is still firmly in the playoff picture as they currently hold the second wild-card spot and the sixth seed in the playoffs. But those two losses to the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears may loom large as these were chances to distance themselves from the pack.

Instead, they are fighting off three teams with the same 6-6 record as they hold, including the Green Bay Packers, for a shot at the playoffs. Every game matters and the Vikings need to capitalize on each game.

If the Vikings want to get back to their winning ways against the Raiders, the offense has to look a lot better than it did before the bye. To do that, they will need to follow these four keys to victory.

Broncos QB Russell Wilson on turnovers: ‘I’ve got to play cleaner’

“I think more than anything else, I’ve got to play cleaner,” Broncos QB Russell Wilson said after throwing three interceptions in Houston.

In terms of interceptions, Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson was perfect during the team’s five-game winning streak. During that 5-0 run, Wilson threw eight touchdown passes and no interceptions.

Wilson came crashing back to earth against the Houston Texans on Sunday, throwing three interceptions in a 22-17 loss. One of the passes was tipped at the line of scrimmage. The other two were poor decisions.

“Yeah, first one was tipped,” Wilson said after the game. “They made a good play. The second one – took a shot down the field to ‘Court.’ Thought we had him, honestly, and he [the defender] made a heck of a play. I don’t know how he made that play, to be honest with you. Then the last one was trying to win the game for us, trying to get the ball up high in the end zone, and they made that one. You know, I think the first one is just part of the game of football. The last two, they made good plays.”

The Broncos dominated the turnover battle during their winning streak, but Wilson’s three turnovers on Sunday gave them a minus-three ratio in Houston. If Denver is going to finish the season strong and get into the playoff mix, Wilson will have to do a better job protecting the ball going forward.

“That was a great game back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,” Wilson said after Sunday’s loss. “We felt like we were going to come out on top, and I think more than anything else, I’ve got to play cleaner. We’ve all got to be better, but I’ve got to play cleaner. … There’s a lot more ball left.”

Up next for the Broncos is a road game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

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4 things Vikings must fix during bye week

While on a bye week, the VIkings need to fix these things

We are at the crossroads of the Minnesota Vikings 2023 season.

Sitting at 6-6, the Vikings have both looked dead in the water and like a legit threat to win the NFC North. As things sit right now, they have lost their last two games after pulling out five straight wins, all without superstar wide receiver Justin Jefferson.

The bye week comes at a good time for the Vikings. Jefferson just came off of injured reserve and will play against the Las Vegas Raiders in week 14. It also gives players like Akayleb Evans and Marcus Davenport one more week to get back onto the field.

During the bye week, the Vikings need to fix these things.

Broncos lead the NFL with 22 takeaways through 12 weeks

The Broncos lead the NFL in takeaways (22) through 12 weeks of play. Ja’Quan McMillian (4) and Justin Simmons (4) lead the team.

The Denver Broncos’ defense has been forcing turnovers at an impressive pace during the team’s recent winning streak.

Over the last four weeks, the Broncos have totaled 15 takeaways, the most by any team during a four-game stretch since 1989. Denver also has a four-game streak of at least three takeaways, a team-high since 2000.

“It’s huge,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said of the team’s takeaways earlier this week. “If you’re looking at the league in general, with anywhere from 11 to 14 possessions per game — you take it away, you get one, they get one less. You take two away, you get two more and they get two less — just do the math. It was at that 1-5 mark that we were not really good with that. Since that mark, we’ve been really good with that. We have to keep paying attention to it, but it’s significant.”

Denver has totaled 22 takeaways this season, more than any other team.

At some point, there will be some regression. The Broncos have recovered 10 fumbles in their last four games, a historically high total. As Andrew Mason of Denver Sports pointed out on Twitter/X, two of those fumbles were muffed snaps and one was a botched reverse — some luck was involved in those turnovers.

The Broncos can continue to be aggressive, though, punching the ball out when given opportunities while continuing to force interceptions as well. Denver might not be able to keep up its historic turnover pace, but the Broncos can continue this style of play that has led to takeaways.

Opportunistic Saints defense can take advantage of Jared Goff’s mistakes

An opportunistic Saints defense can take advantage of Jared Goff’s mistakes. The Lions quarterback has committed six turnovers in his last two games:

An opportunistic New Orleans Saints defense must take advantage of Jared Goff’s mistakes. The Detroit Lions quarterback has committed six turnovers in his last two games, losing three fumbles to the Green Bay Packers last week after throwing three interceptions to the Chicago Bears a week earlier. Goff is in a bit of a rut, and the Saints need to capitalize on it. He’s thrown eight interceptions and fumbled five times this season.

That’s easier said than done for most teams, but New Orleans is known for its ballhawks. The Saints defense has intercepted the second-most passes in the NFL this season (14 in 11 games) while doing an admirable job of recovering fumbled balls from the offense — nine different defenders have recovered a fumble this season, and cornerback Paulson Adebo has two of them.

Adebo also has four interceptions in just nine games, leading the team. Strong safety Tyrann Mathieu is second with three picks, and his tag-team partner Marcus Maye has two of his own (though the free safety may not play this week due to a shoulder injury). Five other Saints defenders have intercepted passes this season, too.

Taking the ball away becomes even more important when you consider all the struggles the Saints have experienced offensively. The more opportunities the defense can create for Derek Carr and company, the better. Shorter fields and swings of momentum are going to be critical against a talented and well-coached Lions team. If Goff does a better job protecting the football, Saints fans may be in for a long afternoon.

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Lions and Jared Goff emphasizing ball security after recent struggles

Dan Campbell: “We understand the areas of improvement, where we must improve and it’s ball security.”

Don’t question the desire or heart of Dan Campbell’s Detroit Lions. In spite of two weeks of uninspiring play, Campbell believes strongly that his team is still very dialed in.

“The hunger has been there. I don’t feel like that’s dwindled away or drifted. That’s been there,” Campbell said.

But the coach did see one glaring area for improvement as the Lions prepare to face the Saints in New Orleans in Week 13.

“And I think if anything, we understand the areas of improvement, where we must improve and it’s ball security,” Campbell said.

While the focus has been on Jared Goff, who threw three interceptions in the win over Chicago and then fumbled thrice in the loss to Green Bay, Campbell made it clear the prioritization of ball security extends well beyond his quarterback.

“I’m not just talking about Goff, I’m talking about – and there’s a number of plays that we didn’t fumble that those balls are just dying to come out of our hand,” Campbell explained. “Like we are not secure with the football. We’ve got to get back to what we do and take care of it.”

Goff acknowledged an increased focus in practice on ball security.

“I mean, yeah, we’ve done it in the past. Certainly, an emphasis on it, right, you have a fumble, you’re going to work on it in practice, so it’s something we’re doing,” Goff told reporters.

The veteran QB has already thrown more interceptions in 11 games in 2023 (8) than he did in all of 2022 (7), and Goff has also fumbled five times. However, he doesn’t want to sacrifice potential big plays while worrying too much about ball security.

“No, you just play the game and you’re always aware of taking care of the ball, you’re always trying to do that, but you’ve got to be aggressive when the shots are there and take your chance to make a play,” Goff stated.