Even in the midst of an 11-game winning streak and a 13-win season overall, the Denver Broncos have struggled consistently in one area: Turnover differential.
The Broncos' inability to create takeaways is something that's been highlighted all throughout the year, and it's potentially going to be the thing that pushes this team to the Super Bowl or prevents them from even winning a postseason matchup.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton addressed the media in a conference call on Monday, and the turnover margin was the very first thing he brought up when it comes to what his team needs to improve heading into Week 18 and the upcoming playoff run.
Sean Payton acknowledges Broncos' need to start creating more takeaways
"The one area that has to improve is the turnover margin, and that can happen. We did a collective of the last 25 years of Super Bowl winners. It’s something like 114 in the plus. There’s been one Super Bowl winner in the last 25 years… I’m just talking about when the playoffs begin, if that makes sense. When the playoffs begin, the Rams recently were the only minus-two turnover team. The rest added up to some crazy number, and so that’s something we have to improve on.”
- Sean Payton (via Broncos PR)
What Payton is stating here is that the urgency is going to be for this team to start creating more takeaways, because they already do a pretty good job of taking care of the ball. So far this season, the Broncos have generated just 11 takeaways on defense, with a 12th takeaway coming on a special teams play made by Jonah Elliss early in the season.
The offense, on the other hand, ranks 12th in the NFL with 17 total giveaways. And to be fair, not all of those 17 giveaways have been the offense's fault. There have been a couple of muffed punts in there for the Broncos by Marvin Mims Jr. and Michael Bandy.
At this point in the season, being -5 in the turnover differential department has not been detrimental to the team, but it could be in the playoffs. You don't get into "plus" territory in the turnover margin unless you are creating takeaways. That's going to be a huge area of emphasis, starting in what Payton deemed will be a playoff-like game in Week 18 against the Chargers.
A win against the Chargers will allow the Broncos to skip the Wild Card round and host in the Divisional round as the #1 overall seed in the AFC.
Starting in Week 18, the Broncos are essentially giving themselves a clean slate when it comes to that turnover margin. There is obviously some good luck involved with creating takeaways at times, but the Broncos also understand time is of the essence, because it's rare for teams in the red to win it all.