Zac Boyer will be entering his third season covering the Washington Redskins for The Free Lance-Star this fall. Make sure to follow Zac on Twitter (@ZacBoyer) for the latest updates or e-mail him with any questions at zboyer@freelancestar.com.
Trio Of Turnovers Help Redskins Rank Amongst Leaders In Differential
By ZAC BOYER
ASHBURN – After recovering a fumble and intercepting two passes against Minnesota on Sunday, the Washington Redskins currently rank tied for third in the NFL with a plus-9 turnover margin.
Williams
Only against Atlanta have the Redskins not forced more turnovers than they had committed. They have intercepted at least one pass in seven consecutive games, the longest streak since 2005, and have returned three interceptions for a touchdown, which last happened in 1999.
Madieu Williams added to that streak against the Vikings when he returned an interception of Christian Ponder 24 yards for a touchdown.
“The teams that win are teams that are good in turnover area,” head coach Mike Shanahan said. “Once you get to the playoffs, the teams that win the Super Bowl are usually the best in the turnover area, so that’s always an emphasis of something we’ve talking about the last couple years.”
Of the 10 teams to play in the Super Bowl over the last five years, five of them ranked in the top three of their conference in turnover margin and seven of them ranked in the top half.
Washington has intercepted eight passes and recovered six of its opponents’ fumbles this season while only throwing four interceptions and fumbling the ball away once.
At plus-10, only New England and the Falcons have a better turnover differential than the Redskins, while Kansas City, which has given the ball away 21 times, has the worst turnover differential in the NFL at minus-15.
“We want to get turnovers to try to score on defense and convert them into points,” said cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who now has two interceptions and has also recovered a fumble. “That’s what we’ve been doing a great job of these past couple weeks.”
