If the Pittsburgh Steelers fail to come up with a turnover Sunday night against the Chicago Bears it will make three straight games without one. Dating back to the 1992 season, that has only happened once and it was in 2009 during a three game stretch in December. That was the month that they were supposed to unleash hell in.
“The turnovers, we definitely have to get the ball turned over for our guys,” defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said Thursday following practice. “I think the sacks will come. I think Tennessee ran the ball 40 times and Cincinnati ran it maybe 35 times. You aren’t going to get any interceptions or sacks [when that happens]. We have to force them to be in throwing situations but we definitely have to get more turnovers, no doubt.”
The Steelers have had problems forcing turnovers going on three seasons now and if they don’t want to start the season 0-3 Sunday night against the Bears, they better start.
It goes without saying that turnovers play a key role in whether or not a team wins a game. For the Steelers, getting two in any one game has resulted in a 57-12 (82.6%) record dating back to the 2004 season.
While we are talking about turnovers, let me close this post out by giving you this stat. Dating back to 2004, the Steelers are 51-4 (92.7%) in games that they merely win the turnover battle in.
Yes, Mr. LeBeau, we definitely do have to get the ball turned over for our guys.
