Takeaways... A well timed interception or fumble can change the course of any football game. Momentum swings, morale is restored, the fires of hope are relit. Ending an opponent's’ possession is one thing, but to end it and take away their ability to play field position is all the more inspirational. Forced fumbles, whether recovered or not, are debilitating to the opponent. It’s a reality check - it’s intimidating - it’s a game changer.
The season thus far has seen its fair share of takeaways. Though dominated by interceptions, (74 on the year versus 46 forced fumbles) forced fumbles are the tone setter of the two. Interceptions are often cut and dry - throw the ball, lose the ball. Forced fumbles however make a statement regardless of a possession change. We will be primarily focusing on the act of a forced fumble separate from the recovery, though we’ll look at those outcomes as well.
The top 5 leaders in the league leave us little evidence for the true culprit of the cause of forced fumbles.
While linebackers lead the pack with 3 out of 5 of the leaders, the attributes of these players cloud the answer. The common theme would appear to be strength, with again 3 of the 5 (all linebackers) with strength over 70. The case could be made for Devitt, at 66 strength, is close enough to the threshold and his position at DT allows for some wiggle room being closer to the LOS every play. The true outlier however is Timote Shoate of the San Jose SabreCats. Linebackers and defensive tackles make sense in this breakdown, but the Peanut Punch master Shoate is the one glaring anomaly. He has the lowest strength (50) of the 5 and is tied for lowest tackle (51), and is the only secondary member on the list.
The trend is even further muddied when trying to determine if a player has it out for a specific team or rival. At first glance it seems like there’s some proof that these player’s perform better against a rival. For instance, the Otters and Outlaws lead the group with 3 forced fumbles when playing against each other… ¼ of the total. The shining example of that would be Romeo Devitt’s performance against the Outlaws in Week 9, where he had 2 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery. But that’s where the support ends. No other player had more than a single FF against any given team.
If any conclusion can be drawn at this point in the season it’s (loosely) that linebackers with at least 70 strength lead the pack as far as punching the ball out. It should also be noted thata majority of players outside of the top 5 (with more than 1 forced fumbles) have at least 70 strength as well (exceptions being Showcase of Baltimore and Marmeladov of Colorado, both of whom are Free Safeties). One would hate to shrug and say the data is inconclusive in an investigative article, numbers normally tell a clear story, but at this point the jury is out on the true cause of forced fumbles. Random tenacity? Unbridled rage? RNG luck? The truth remains out there, and I for one will be keeping an eye out on the trends. As such, this will be part one of two, with the second including the preseason and postseason of this S1 to further decrypt this mystery.
Until next time. Peanut Punch.
(Words: 572 - first article, limited numbers, be kind? Ready to be graded/critiqued)
(Stats: ”Causing Fumbles” Which attributes are responsible for causing fumbles - $750,000 bonus - min 500 words - July 7)
Graded
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[OPTION] || Titus Marmot | Co-GM | Orange County Otters ||
[OPTION] (S2) Otters Regular Season Record : 8-6
[OPTION] (S3) Otters Regular Season Record : 5-3
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[div align=center][SELECT style="background-color:#FFFFFF;color;white: font-family:Verdana; font-size: 12px; width: 400px; "][br]
[OPTION] || Titus Marmot | Co-GM | Orange County Otters ||
[OPTION] (S2) Otters Regular Season Record : 8-6
[OPTION] (S3) Otters Regular Season Record : 5-3