I believe I may have started a thread like this before but I couldn’t find one.

Anyway, there are not many things you can list that helps lose games more then penalties and turn overs. Where you rank in these two catagories does not tell the story, that’s just there because sports people like to rank things. Penalties cone down more to situation over number of. Scores called back, first downs called back(offensive) or first downs gained(defensive) mean so much more than most or least penalized team. The Steelers saw too many penalties this season that either took away big plays(scores, first downs,etc), or gave opponents yards and/or new sets of downs.

The Steelers averaged 1.6 turn overs per game. Well you can’t commit .6 of a turn over so 2 turn overs per game. That means we gave the other team 2 extra possessions per game. I do not know how many points we actually gave up due to those turn overs, but I do know they cost us opportunities to score. And just like with penalties the importance of turn overs can be directly associated with game situations.

The Steelers were not a good team this season for multiple reasons. However, situational penalties and 2 turn overs per game will make an already bad team look even worse. There are all kinds of stats on turn over margins, plus and minus, take aways vs give aways, etc. Bottom line is we can only control our own turn overs. Untimely penalties need to be met with discipline just like at every other level of football.