The bad news for the New Orleans Saints is that through five games, they aren't on pace to force any more turnovers than the 17 that they forced last season. Worse news is that currently, they also aren't on pace to commit less than the 30 turnovers they committed last year, when they finished minus-13 in turnover ratio.
New Orleans' current ratio of minus-5 (five takeaways, 10 giveaways) is tied for fifth-worst in the league, and is a significant reason that the Saints (1-4) have struggled entering Thursday's nationally televised game against Atlanta (5-0) in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
The Saints are coming off their high-water mark in both categories; they tied a season-high of two takeaways Sunday against the Eagles (their first two interceptions of the season), and turned it over four times (an interception and three lost fumbles) in the 39-17 loss at Lincoln Financial Field.
"That's what it's all about," receiver Brandin Cooks said. "Turnovers in this league cost you. You can't have four turnovers and expect to win a game."
Absolutely, it won't help the Saints in any way to turn over the ball against the Falcons and will go a long way toward preventing improvement this season. As history has shown – and this season highlights – it rarely is beneficial to a team to turn over the ball more than it takes it away.
This season, of the 17 teams that are minus-1 or less in turnover margin, only one has a winning record (Indianapolis, at 3-2). The other 16 teams have a combined record of 22-56.
For the Saints, their only victory this season came in a turnover-free game against Dallas. And Atlanta has been as opportunistic (plus-5) as the Saints have been generous.
"I think, like anything offensively, balance and efficiency are going to take a lot of those away," right tackle Zach Strief said. "When you have third-and-13s and third-and-14s and you're giving up pressures on the quarterback and people are trying to make plays in tough situations, you're going to have a lot of turnovers – when you're coming from behind.
"We need to be efficient, we need to keep ourselves in situations that are manageable so we can play with a little more control. At the end of the day, you get your quarterback hit 10 times and he's under duress, that stuff is going to happen."
That, too, has been a large part of the problem. Drew Brees has been sacked 14 times and pressured several others. In part, that has contributed to his five turnovers (three interceptions and two lost fumbles).
"A lot of times those things go hand in hand," Brees said. "But, bottom line, we all have to do a better job taking care of the football, myself included.
"I have a job to do. It's (to) get the ball out and make plays and help us score points."
In the effort to help do that more efficiently, Brees said he's in regular communication with his offensive linemen.
"There's always communication," he said. "I have to be on the same page with the O-line. Run game, pass game, scheme, some of the things we're seeing – we just want to make sure we're on the page.
"(In a) short week, obviously that becomes even more important because it's a lot of information thrown at you in a short amount of time. Those are smart guys, they know what they're doing, but just for us both to know that we're on the same page is a good thing."
