It doesn’t take a hardened football fan to know that winning the turnover battle goes a long way to determining the winner of a contest. And it is in turnovers, that we see the biggest stat disparity between these two teams.
The 49ers are last in the league with a minus 10 turnover ratio. They aren’t getting them and they are giving them up. They have surrendered the second most turnovers with 15 (nine by INT and six by fumble).
The Raiders have been solid in the turnover department and they are even on the year. They would like to do a better job of forcing turnovers. The Raiders only have two INTs on the year, but as DT Tommy Kelly pointed out, the Raiders are hoping to force some INTs this week. Kelly:
Hopefully we can put some pressure on Alex Smith. He’s had a little trouble throwing it to the other team this year.
Then there are the fumbles. The Raiders have been putting the ball on the ground, they have just been recovering it themselves. They are first in the league in own fumbles recovered and they have had plenty of opportunities to do so, because they are 30th in the league with 2.8 fumbles per game.
This is not a part of the game a team would like to rely on. It is much better just to hold onto the ball in the first place. The Raiders will need to do that this week and the 49ers may help them. The 49ers are last in the league in forcing fumbles.
The 49ers aren’t much better at holding onto the ball then the Raiders. They are 28th in the league with 2.4 fumbles per game and the Raiders are better at causing them. At 1.6 fumbles forced per game the Raiders are 16th.
So, after all the matchups we’ve highlighted it is very likely this one will lead to the winner. Check back after the game for recaps of the game and how these matchups played themselves out.