Two teams since 1933 have gone four games without a turnover
The New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees have already accomplished something they’ve never done through the first four games this season.
If it happens again, the Saints will be alone in the history books.
Since the addition of the forward pass in 1933, just three teams have finished the first four games of the season without a turnover — the 1995 St. Louis Rams, the 2013 Tennessee Titans and the 2017 Saints.
Both the Rams and Titans saw their streak end at four games. In the fifth game, each team had three turnovers and lost the game.
The Saints will try to avoid a similar outcome on Sunday against the Detroit Lions, which is a difficult task as the Lions rank third in the NFL with three takeaways.
Still, the lack of turnovers thus far is a good indication that the Saints are putting the right amount of emphasis on protecting the ball. Brees, who had never gone the first three games without an interception, was surprised to hear the statistics about the NFL’s historic turnover-free teams, but he’s glad the results have put the team in select company because the Saints talk about avoiding turnovers every game.
“It’s the No. 1 key to victory every time we go into the game,” he said. “If you can take care of the football, if you can end up on the plus side in the turnover ratio, you give yourself a much better chance to win.
“Listen, you still dial up the plays, you still play aggressive, you still take shots when you can, but also I think it’s just understanding when it’s OK to take a chance and then maybe when it’s OK just to make sure that the ball stays in your hands. You can’t paralyze yourself, but I think it’s just smart football.”
One key difference between the Saints and the 1995 Rams and 2013 Titans is the early-season results. Even without a giveaway, the Saints are just 2-2 while the Rams went 4-0 and the Titans were 3-1. Both of those teams finished 7-9, though, so the Saints will try to have better results by the end of the season.
Game plans and execution have clearly played a critical role in New Orleans’ lack of turnovers, but luck is a factor, too. In the Week 4 win over the Miami Dolphins, Brees and center Max Unger were each credited with a fumble on two snap miscues, but New Orleans recovered both. Miami rookie cornerback Cordrea Tankersley nearly had an interception, too.
“We didn’t have any, but we certainly tried,” coach Sean Payton said. “We had miscues with the snap, we had a ball that was almost intercepted, we had a handful of times where very easily it could’ve been a two- or three-turnover game.”
In a Week 3 win, Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly dropped an interception, too, so even though Payton praised Brees as well as the runners and pass catchers for protecting the ball, he knows luck plays a role in turnovers game to game, though not necessarily in the season-long numbers.
“I don’t think it plays any role during the course of the season,” he said. “It can play some role on certain weeks if a ball bounces the right way, but generally you reap what you sow.”
Brees agreed that luck plays some role in turnovers, but he’s not complaining about having good fortune thus far.
“There’s a little bit, but there’s plenty of times in my career where I’ve had bad luck,” he said. “So, I guess it all equals out in the end.”
Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas said he quickly learned the importance of protecting the ball last season. He fumbled the ball just twice, but both came in the same game and the defense covered each time. The Denver Broncos scored 10 points off those turnovers as the Saints lost 25-23.
“Those mistakes are costly mistakes that can cost you a game, and we were in a lot of close games last year,” Thomas said. “One of the key things that allowed them to slip away was not protecting the ball, so we want to emphasize that.”
