Chiefs’ emphasis on turnovers is big part of their success

The Kansas City Chiefs lead the NFL in turnover differential through 12 weeks of the NFL season, and it’s been a big part of their success this season.

The defense has a total of 24 takeaways, with 13 picks and 11 forced fumbles. The offense is stingy with the football, with just four interceptions and six fumbles.

Chiefs safety Eric Berry said Wednesday that it’s something Kansas City is perpetually working to improve upon.

“We just want to put our team in good situations, and we practice it in practice,” Berry said. “Like, it’s not just something that we pop up and do during the games. We actually work on getting turnovers in practice and trying to score with it, so that’s an emphasis throughout the week.”

That practice came in handy in Week 10 when the Chiefs pulled off a narrow, late-game win over the Carolina Panthers. In the fourth quarter, Berry came up with one of the best interceptions of the season against Cam Newton.

Kansas City is aggressive with fumbles, too. Later in that same game, cornerback Marcus Peters flat out took the ball away from Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to seal the win for the Chiefs.

Head coach Andy Reid said it’s an emphasis for the team on defense, but Alex Smith and the offense also deserve credit for taking care of the football.

“We obviously stress it on defense, and then on offense, we also stress it — and that’s Alex Smith,” Reid said. “Alex Smith has been very good throughout his career at not turning the ball over, so he does a great job with it.”

Reid is correct about Smith, who has finished with single-digit interception numbers in each of his past five seasons. With just four so far this year, Smith is on pace to do the same in 2016.

The Falcons have also come out ahead so far this season in turnover differential, currently sitting at a respectable +3, which ties them for ninth in the NFL. Reid said that Dan Quinn’s emphasis on takeaways has helped Atlanta get into that position despite its defense ranking in the bottom third in scoring and yards allowed.

He also sees some parallels between the two teams.

“Dan Quinn is a great football coach,” Reid said. “He’s also great friends with our defensive coordinator (Bob Sutton), and they’re two of the better defensive minds in the game. So there’s a reason why the turnovers take place for both teams.”

The Chiefs will have a much better chance against the high-powered Falcons offense on Sunday if they can create some takeaways. Matt Ryan has thrown just six interceptions through 11 games, and the Falcons have coughed up the ball just five times this season.

If you want to stop the top-scoring offense in the NFL, taking the ball away from them is a good way to do it, and creating turnovers is certainly working for the Chiefs this season.