Disclaimer: I made a separate post but the Auto-Mod told me to post this here. It's related to Fumbling statistics.
I keep seeing people say,"Look at the Fumble Statistics, the Patriots have been cheating for years" and "How come the Patriots never fumble and have the least amount of fumbles?".
I decided to take the time to check into these 'Claims'.
| Year | Patriots Fumbles (Lost) | League Best | League Worst |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 13 (4) | 11 (Vikings) | 31 (Colts) |
| 2013 | 24 (9) | 12 (Panthers) | 32 (Bills) |
| 2012 | 14 (7) | 9 (Falcons) | 37 (Eagles) |
| 2011 | 13 (5) | 6 (Saints) | 30 (Bucs) |
| 2010 | 9 (5) | Patriots | 33 (Cards) |
| 2009 | 17 (9) | 11 (Colts) | 33 (Seahawks) |
| 2008 | 17 (10) | 12 (Panthers) | 36 (49ers) |
| 2007 | 14 (6) | Tie w/Colts | 42 (Raiders) |
| 2006 | 27 (15) | 13 (Colts) | 32 (Raiders) |
| 2005 | 19 (9) | 14 (Colts) | 36 (Cowboys) |
| 2004 | 24 (13) | 12 (Lions) | 42 (Dolphins) |
| 2003 | 25 (11) | 13 (Chiefs) | 37 (Ravens) |
| 2002 | 24 (10) | 7 (Chiefs) | 40 (Vikings) |
| 2001 | 29 (13) | 18 (Titans) | 41 (Giants) |
| AVG | 19 (9) | 13 | 36 |
My Analysis on the table: The claims that Patriots fumble way less than everyone else is false. They are better than average in terms of total fumbles and are very good at recovering their own fumbles. As you can tell the Patriots average 19 fumbles lost a year, of those 19 they usually recover 10 and only lose 9, which seems to be better than most other teams.
I think people tend to use Turnover differential and assume we just never fumble.
| Year | Turnover Diff | Ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | +12 | T-2nd |
| 2013 | +9 | 8th |
| 2012 | +25 | 1st |
| 2011 | +17 | 3rd |
| 2010 | +28 | 1st |
| 2009 | +6 | T-8th |
| 2008 | +1 | T-15th |
| 2007 | +16 | 3rd |
| 2006 | +8 | T-4th |
My Analysis: The Patriots fair very well when it comes to turnover differential, but this stat doesn't just include fumbles. This stat includes Fumbles (Lost Only) Interceptions (We have Brady) against our defense's ability to Recover Fumbles and Get Interceptions. We fair very well at recovering our only fumbles and we have the 2nd best all time TD-Int ratio QB. Our defense's seem to be average or a little above average at forcing turnovers. Couple the average defense, Arguably Best QB ever, and a team that recovers their fumbles at around 50% and you have a team that typically does well in turnover differential.
Random Fact: Tom Brady is second on the all time (active) fumble list.