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The New England Patriots’ offense and defense both are focused on turnovers ahead of this Sunday’s rematch with the Buffalo Bills.
For the offense, fumbles are a primary point of emphasis. The Patriots lost two in Sunday’s win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and have put the ball on the ground 14 times this season, tying their total from the entire 2015 campaign.
“There’s no question that our players and our coaches are emphasizing that,” Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “We know there is no greater determinant of success than taking care of the football on offense, that’s for sure. Everybody would agree with that. We all understand how critical and important it is to our ability to win each week. There are a number of things, a number of different periods in practice that we set aside for that.”
Though New England has been the NFL’s only interception-free team this season, fumbles have been a lingering issue. That was especially true when the Patriots and Bills first met in Week 4, as the Pats fumbled five times and lost one in the red zone en route to their first shutout loss at home in more than 20 years.
“The guys are working extremely hard at it,” McDaniels said, “and ultimately, it comes down to, we’ve got to do a good job of, in the moment, making sure that we cover the ball, protect it with both arms, with our breast plate, and make sure that the ball is tight, that there’s no way that they can get it loose to begin with so that it doesn’t end up on the ground. Definitely something that we’re looking to correct. Definitely something that we’ve done too much of. We understand the significance of it, and we’re going to do everything we can to work to correct that as we move on through the season.”
Over on the other side of the ball, Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia would like to see his unit’s interceptions total increase. New England currently is tied for 14th in the league with five picks after ranking 20th in that category in 2015.
“I think as any defensive coach, probably any coach on our side of the ball, you love to see all of our interceptions go up,” Patricia said. “Those are huge plays in the game, and any time we can get the ball from (their) offense and give it back to our offense, that’s the entire goal of what we’re trying to do.
“I love the interceptions when we can get them. I’d like to have more of them. Definitely need to keep working on it and keep pushing to get more of them week in and week out and take advantage of the opportunities that we get.”
Malcolm Butler hauled in his first interception of the season during the win over Pittsburgh. The 2015 Pro Bowl cornerback has been one of the NFL’s most disruptive defensive backs through seven games, tying Denver’s Aqib Talib and Oakland’s David Amerson for the league lead with 11 pass breakups.
Thumbnail photo via Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports Images