Forcing turnovers will be pivotal for the New Orleans Saints in the matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Saints defense has forced a turnover in every game thus far and taken away an interception in all but one. This trend must continue in order to come away with a win on Thursday night. It’s their key to victory.
The Saints offense has had their struggles this season and can’t be trusted to put up points. They now have to deal with a hampered offensive line on top of their usual struggles. As conditions on that side of the ball worsen, the defense will have to continue to pick up the slack. This means limiting points and possibly scoring points of their own. Forcing turnovers can achieve both of these goals.
In the best game the Saints have played this year, the defense scored their first points. You might need that to happen again on Thursday night. The offense could benefit from short fields where they start in favorable field goal position. The Saints defense may need to be another form of offense against the Jaguars. That’s easier said than done, but this might be an area New Orleans has an edge. They rank 10th-best in ending defensive drives with takeaways (13.9%) while Jacksonville is right in line with the league average in possessions ending in turnovers (11.0%, which is 15th).
