The search for circumstantial evidence about DeflateGate has turned up a new tidbit that will leave a skeptical public with something else to question about how the New England Patriots handle their footballs. The Wall Street Journal took a deeper look at fumble rates around the NFL, finding that the Patriots fumble less than other teams that play their home games outside -- a lot less.
The Patriots’ improbably low fumble rate raises more questions
Maybe the Patriots are just naturally better at hanging onto the football?
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Since 2010, the Patriots have fumbled the ball once every 73 touches from scrimmage. That's 52 percent better than the league average. The team with the second-lowest fumble rate since 2010 is the Baltimore Ravens, who fumbled once every 55 touches.
And that’s not all.
Individual players have fumbled less while playing for the Patriots compared to other teams. Current Patriots players Danny Amendola, Brandon LaFell and LeGarrette Blount as well as former Patriots players BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, and Wes Welker, fumbled eight times in 1,482 touches since 2010, once every 185.3 touches. When those players were wearing another team's jersey, they fumbled 22 times 1,701 touches, once every 77.3 touches.
Tom Brady has fumbled once for every 9.1 times he's been sacked in that time span. The rest of the league's quarterbacks fumble once every 7.3 sacks.
While most of the conversation has centered around the advantages of throwing and catching a deflated ball, fumbles are important here because a deflated ball would give an offense an advantage hanging onto the rock on the field. The Patriots’ fumble numbers are revealing on first look, but like the DeflateGate investigation itself, it doesn’t necessarily prove anything.
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