There are a lot of stats that people harp on: QB rating, rushing yards, total offense, rush defense, pass defense, time of possession... you guys know the deal. I was flipping around the NFL site and checking out team stats then stumbled upon this: Turnover Ratio / Record 1. Steelers +6 / 3-0 2. Jets +6 / 2-1 3. Buccaneers +4 / 2-1 4. Bengals +4 / 2-1 5. Eagles +4 / 2-1 6. Falcons +4 / 2-1 7. Colts +4 / 2-1 8. Saints +3 / 2-1 9. Bears +3 / 3-0 It's pretty simple really. We can have the defense play lights out, or have LT/Greene run for 300 but if we lose that turnover battle it's hard to win in this league. Last year, through the regular season we finished at +1 on the turnover margin. The playoffs: +3. Who had the best turnover ratio in the playoffs last season? The Saints at +7 - they won the superbowl.
The +6 is very impressive through 3 games but what's even more impressive is that we've only turned the ball over once in 3 games.
Also, in 2008 playoffs, the two teams with the highest turnover margins were the Cardinals and the Steelers. They played each other in the SB.
We made the playoffs in 2001 mainly due to our league leading +18 ratio. The team was pretty mediocre otherwise.
Plus it looks like Joe Namaths little Hard Knocks sitdown was taken to heart by Sanchez. He was fumbling snaps left and right last year and into the preseason this year...........and I think of all the posters that wanted Broadway Joe to just go away. Shame....Shame.
I never overlook this stat. Even Rex has alluded to the fact that the turnover ratio tells you everything about a team. The more opportunities the offense has, the more likely you are to score.
Say what you will about the undisciplined Jets, but we've turned the ball over once in three games. I'll take every flag in the friggin' book if we can maintain that ratio.
Meh. We're going to have at least 3 more games this season where something horrible goes wrong and we end up losing.
Don't under estimate how bad those penalties can hurt you. Just like turnovers. If we cantinue to get 85 and 100 yard penalty games, we will start to lose a good amount of them.
I've said it time and time again... the keys to winning football games against respectable opponents this year will be : 1. turn the ball over less than the opponent 2. Win the field position battle 3. play SOLID special teams (meaning: no points left on the field, good punt and kick coverage, the occasional "big" play) if the Jets can do those 3 things, which they have done the past two weeks, the rest will fall in to place, and they will win a lot of football games.
I'm not sure what your point is. I don't expect to go undefeated the rest of the season. It's just frustrating as hell to know that all we needed was ONE lousy drive to lead us into FG range from the offense to win that game. Hell, if the offense just took a knee all game we'd have been in better shape with a 3rd FG attempt.
That's what I'm saying. We're not going to get blown out by anyone this season, so all of our losses are going to be those "ARGH. If only..." type games.
