New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com - The Advocate Saints’ road struggles often linked to turnovers

Much has been said — and certainly will be said the rest of this week — about the New Orleans Saints’ road woes going into Saturday night’s playoff game with the Philadelphia Eagles.

After crafting the NFL’s best road record from 2009 through their first two road games of this season at 23-11, the Saints went off the track in dropping five of their last six games away from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Part of the reason for their 1-5 mark since winning at Tampa Bay in September and Chicago in early October is giveaways.

While only three teams had fewer turnovers than the Saints, with 19 in 16 games, 10 of them came in road losses to New England, the New York Jets, Seattle, St. Louis and Carolina.

Those 10 turnovers were converted into 41 points, which is big since they lost those games by a combined 51 points — making ball security in a win-or-go-home playoff game more crucial. Six of the 10 turnovers came in the first half.

“If you can score points and get a lead, that’s great,” Drew Brees said. “One of our things is we really haven’t started fast on the road. That’s something certainly we can improve on, something we are focusing on.

“I definitely say there’s something with momentum on the road, especially when you’re in a hostile environment,” he said. “Don’t give them a reason to get excited … don’t give their fans a reason to stand up and get crazy.”

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