WhoDat

Just to satisfy my own curiosity, I looked up the stats on TEAM penalties and turnovers. I think you will find these stats very interesting, and I can't wait to hear what Billy has to say about this. The team penalties are ranked in descending order, meaning the teams at the top are the most penalized. The turnover numbers are ranked by turnover differential with the #1 team having the BEST takeaway ratio in the league. Here ya go:

Penalties
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1. Minnesota
2. Indianapolis
3. Kansas City
4. Seattle
5. St. Louis
6. Green Bay
7. Cincinnati
8. New York (N)
9. New Orleans
10. Tennessee
11. Tampa Bay
12. Denver
13. San Francisco
14. Carolina
15. Dallas
16. New England
17. Jacksonville
18. New York (A)
19. Oakland
20. San Diego
21. Washington
22. Baltimore
23. Pittsburgh
24. Philadelphia
25. Houston
26. Miami
27. Arizona
28. Buffalo
29. Cleveland
30. Atlanta
31. Detroit
32. Chicago

Turnovers
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1. Kansas City
2. Tennessee
3. San Francisco
4. New England
5. Seattle
6. Minnesota
7. Indianapolis
8. Tampa Bay
9. Miami
10. Cincinnati
11. Washington
12. New York (A)
13. St. Louis
14. Oakland
15. Philadelphia
16. Denver
17. Houston
18. Baltimore
19. Detroit
20. Chicago
21. San Diego
22. Dallas
23. New Orleans
24. Atlanta
25. Jacksonville
26. Pittsburgh
27. Cleveland
28. Carolina
29. New York (N)
30. Buffalo
31. Green Bay
32. Arizona

Just in case you missed it, here's what I see:

If you count the Saints and Giants out of the playoffs, then EIGHT of the top TEN most penalized teams are playoff teams (or at least in the hunt and fighting with ALL 10 having a mathematical shot). There are only THREE teams in the ten least penalized group competing for the playoffs, with ZERO in the bottom six. All of the six most penalized teams are competing for a playoff spot.

Things flop when you look at turnovers. EIGHT of the TEN teams with the BEST giveaway/takeaway ratio are competing for the playoffs. Only THREE of the bottom TEN teams (teams who have negative turnover ratios) are competing for the playoffs.

Looks to me like it is MUCH better to be highly penalized then it is to turn the ball over a lot. Billy, care to change your previous comments?

PS - the Saints are 23rd in the league in turnovers. (And these stats did not take into account week 14 games - all team stats are representative of teams after 12 games played.)