The New England Patriots have won three straight games and at 4-2 overall on the season are once again in a competitive position in the AFC. And yet, their head coach is well aware that there is work to be done in order to sustain the success and again compete for a championship.
High up on the list is turnovers, and Mike Vrabel made this clear on Monday morning.
“We turn the ball over at a historic rate, and it’s ridiculous,” Vrabel said on an appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show. “It’s embarrassing.”
The Patriots added two more turnovers to their tally on Sunday against the New York Jets. In the third quarter, running back TreVeyon Henderson lost a fumble on his team’s side of the field; in the fourth, wide receiver DeMario Douglas had the ball punched while trying to gain extra yards on a 39-yard catch-and-run.
Both plays not only thwarted potential scoring opportunities for New England, but set up the Jets to add points themselves: they turned both takeaways into field goals, scoring six of their 19 total points after the Patriots gifted them the ball.
On the season, Vrabel’s team has now turned the ball over 13 times — second most in the league behind only the Chargers’ 15. Drake Maye has thrown seven interceptions, albeit none of them over the last two games, while the team also lost six of its 11 total fumbles.
The Patriots’ turnover rate of 21.2% per drive is the worst in the league, and if maintained throughout the rest of the season would be the highest of any single NFL team since the 2006 Oakland Raiders (25.0%).
“It’s tough to win, and there are also things that we have to clean up,” Vrabel said. “We just want to keep improving. We did in some areas, and unfortunately I think we have to continue to understand that each and every week in this league you have to play well to give yourself a chance to win. And if you don’t, it’s hard to win.”
