Turnovers are often critical in determining playoff games, which in terms of fumbles seems, at first glance, to favor the road teams. Of the eight remaining teams, the top 4 in terms of recovering fumbles are the visitors: Indianapolis, Dallas, Carolina and Baltimore, in that order. Taken on its own, those teams would seem to have an edge in recovering fumbles this week.
2014 FUMBLES RECOVERED | ||
---|---|---|
DEFENSE | FF | FR |
Philadelphia | 27 | 16 |
Jacksonville | 22 | 14 |
Indianapolis | 29 | 14 |
Houston | 24 | 14 |
Dallas | 20 | 13 |
St. Louis | 25 | 12 |
Carolina | 28 | 12 |
Washington | 26 | 12 |
Atlanta | 19 | 12 |
Buffalo | 20 | 11 |
Baltimore | 22 | 11 |
Miami | 19 | 11 |
Seattle | 29 | 11 |
Tampa Bay | 25 | 11 |
San Diego | 22 | 11 |
Chicago | 25 | 10 |
Pittsburgh | 20 | 10 |
NY Giants | 24 | 9 |
Green Bay | 20 | 9 |
New England | 19 | 9 |
Kansas City | 17 | 8 |
Cleveland | 22 | 8 |
NY Jets | 17 | 7 |
Detroit | 19 | 7 |
Denver | 21 | 7 |
Arizona | 13 | 7 |
Minnesota | 20 | 6 |
San Francisco | 18 | 6 |
Cincinnati | 15 | 6 |
New Orleans | 15 | 5 |
Oakland | 19 | 5 |
Tennessee | 7 | 4 |
Then again, of the eight remaining playoff teams, which four have lost the fewest fumbles this season? You guessed it: the four home teams.
2014 FUMBLES LOST | ||
---|---|---|
Offense | Fum | Lost |
Philadelphia | 25 | 15 |
Indianapolis | 31 | 15 |
Dallas | 21 | 14 |
NY Giants | 21 | 14 |
Tampa Bay | 29 | 13 |
Washington | 31 | 13 |
New Orleans | 22 | 13 |
Oakland | 28 | 13 |
San Francisco | 18 | 12 |
St. Louis | 27 | 11 |
Miami | 27 | 11 |
Carolina | 25 | 11 |
Pittsburgh | 16 | 11 |
Kansas City | 22 | 11 |
Buffalo | 22 | 10 |
Chicago | 19 | 10 |
Tennessee | 23 | 10 |
Houston | 19 | 9 |
Cincinnati | 20 | 9 |
NY Jets | 25 | 9 |
Detroit | 21 | 8 |
Atlanta | 16 | 8 |
Baltimore | 16 | 8 |
Jacksonville | 15 | 8 |
Cleveland | 16 | 7 |
Green Bay | 19 | 7 |
Seattle | 23 | 7 |
Arizona | 16 | 5 |
Denver | 16 | 5 |
San Diego | 15 | 5 |
New England | 13 | 4 |
Minnesota | 11 | 2 |
Merging the two, here are your fumble recovery likelihoods from the eight defenses. Based on that, the Green Bay, Seattle and Denver defenses look like your best bets.
TOTAL FUMBLES, DIVISIONAL MATCHUPS | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
DEFENSE | FR | OFFENSE | FL | Total | |
Green Bay | 9 | Dallas | 14 | 23 | |
Seattle | 11 | Carolina | 11 | 22 | |
Denver | 7 | Indianapolis | 15 | 22 | |
Dallas | 13 | Green Bay | 7 | 20 | |
Indianapolis | 14 | Denver | 5 | 19 | |
Carolina | 12 | Seattle | 7 | 19 | |
New England | 9 | Baltimore | 8 | 17 | |
Baltimore | 11 | New England | 4 | 15 |
--Andy Richardson