As the Los Angeles Chargers look to steal a win in Jacksonville, pay attention to which team has been better at forcing and preventing turnovers.
I felt like zooming in on the Los Angeles Chargers turnovers today, and because they're going to be playing against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, I figured I would compare those two teams against each other.
Let's get into it.
Forcing Turnovers
Hey, good news! The Chargers have a strong pass rush and a good secondary and those things have led the team to forcing 9 interceptions. That's good for 5th best in the NFL this season, although it's worth mentioning that all but one of the teams ahead of them on the list have already had their bye week and (therefore) have played one less game than L.A.
Less good news is that the Chargers do not do a good job at forcing fumbles. In 10 games, they have forced a total of 2 fumbles. TWO! That's good for 28th out of 32 NFL teams. I have no idea why, but maybe they should work on punching the football while tackling.
As for the Jaguars, they rank 2nd in the NFL with 12(!) interceptions and 13th in the NFL with 5 forced fumbles. Be careful out there, Justin Herbert.
Overall, the Jaguars rank 2nd in the league in forced turnovers and the Chargers rank 16th, tied with the Browns and Bills.
Preventing turnovers
Justin Herbert has thrown 8 interceptions this season, making the Chargers the 9th most in the NFL for "team interceptions". You'd rather have the 9th least interceptions, for sure.
The 4 fumbles from the Chargers offense is the 16th least amongst all NFL teams. Or, right about average.
The Chargers have 12 giveaways in 10 games, the 12th most in the NFL.
On the other side of this weekend's matchup, the Jaguars have done a better job of avoiding interceptions (7) and fumble (2) than Los Angeles.
Overall, the Chargers should be considered "below average" in terms of preventing turnovers while the Jaguars should be considered "above average".
The final tally
The Los Angeles Chargers have forced 11 turnovers on defense and have given the ball away 12 times this season, meaning their turnover differential through 10 weeks is -1.
Meanwhile, they head to Jacksonville to play a Jaguars team that ranks 2nd in the NFL with a turnover differential of +8, having forced 17 turnovers and giving the ball away just 9 times.
This is likely something that Jim Harbaugh and his staff are focused on this week, as it is the clearest path to victory for the Jaguars.