The New England Patriots won three Super Bowl championships in four seasons because they valued the football. When they had it, they took care of it. When the other team had it, they focused on getting it back.
The Broncos are at home against New England in the second round of the NFL playoffs Saturday night because they have finally figured that out.
In their most remarkable turnaround of the season, the Broncos had 36 takeaways against just 16 giveaways (plus-20) during the regular season to rank second in the NFL in turnover margin. Only Cincinnati was better at plus-24.
Last season, the Broncos tied for 24th in the league at minus-9, making this season’s turnaround tops in the league.
“We’ve worked very hard on it,” Broncos defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. “We’ve played with an offense that hasn’t turned the ball over, and we’ve been very opportunistic. We’ve always been able to cause fumbles, but up until this year we haven’t been able to get a lot of interceptions. This year we’ve had 20.”
The Patriots were an uncharacteristic minus-6 this season, tied for 20th in the league. That and injuries are probably why they’re the visiting team. In the past four seasons, when they won three Super Bowls, they were plus-7, plus-5, plus-17 and plus-9 for a total of plus-38. And in their first playoff game against Jacksonville on Saturday, they were plus-2.
“That’s really part of the deal with them,” Coyer said. “They don’t normally turn the ball over because that quarterback (Tom Brady) takes care of the football. That’s what makes them so tough to beat.”
The Broncos beat the Patriots 28-20 in a turnover-free game in mid-October. But that was then; this is the playoffs.
“This isn’t the same team we saw a couple months ago,” Coyer said. “This is more like the team that won three Super Bowls.
“We’ve just got to play hard and get after them. When you play hard, good things can happen. Somebody knocks the ball out and you get the recovery. Somebody puts pressure on the quarterback and he throws an interception. That’s what we have to do. We have to play lights out. But they really work hard at taking care of the ball. That’s why they’re where they are, and that’s why we’re playing this game Saturday.”
The biggest factor in Denver’s turnover turnaround this season has been the play of Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer, who has thrown just seven interceptions in 456 pass attempts. By comparison, Brady threw twice as many interceptions on 530 attempts.
But that was then, this is the playoffs, and Patriots coach Bill Belichick won’t be surprised if this is another no-turnover game.
“In terms of turnovers, the fewer the better,” Belichick said. “We all know that. That’s what you strive for.
“I think Jake has done a great job this year of not only making big plays and not turning the ball over, but more importantly, moving the offense. When you have a team like Denver that pretty much has had at least one 80-yard drive in every game, that’s a lot of good football.”
Joseph Sanchez can be reached at 303-820-5458 or jsanchez@denverpost.com.
