My condolences to the Oakland Raiders, whose owner Al Davis died on October 8.
Week 5 Games:
New Orleans Saints (4-1) 30 at Carolina Panthers (1-4) 27
Arizona Cardinals (1-4) 10 at Minnesota Vikings (1-4) 34
Tennessee Titans (3-2) 17 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) 38
Oakland Raiders (3-2) 25 at Houston Texans (3-2) 20
Seattle Seahawks (2-3) 36 at New York Giants (3-2) 25
Philadelphia Eagles (1-4) 24 at Buffalo Bills (4-1) 31
Cincinnati Bengals (3-2) 30 at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-4) 20
Kansas City Chiefs (2-3) 28 at Indianapolis Colts (0-5) 24
TampaBay Buccaneers (3-2) 3 at SanFrancisco 49ers (4-1) 48
New York Jets (2-3) 21 at New England Patriots (4-1) 30
San Diego Chargers (4-1) 29 at Denver Broncos (1-4) 24
Green Bay Packers (5-0) 25 at Atlanta Falcons (2-3) 14
Chicago Bears (2-3) 13 at Detroit Lions (5-0) 24
Congratulations to the undefeated Detroit Lions and GreenBay Packers, both 5-0.
In life, turnovers are tasty, flaky pastries filled with sweet and spicy filling, sometimes dusted with powdered sugar. Think of an apple turnover still hot from the oven, topped with a decadent scoop of vanilla ice cream, your fork cutting into that pastry – can you feel the resistance before the crisp pastry yields and your fork eases into soft, spicy, cinnamon-y apples? Smell the release of scent and steam, taste the molten middle merging with the melting ice cream and mingling on your tongue with the yin and yang of hot and cold. Nirvana on a fall day.
In football, turnovers are mad scrambles for a ball that was going one way, and now is going the other way. A ball batted down from an offensive receiver that is now in the mitts of a defensive player, with players from both teams running in the opposite direction from where they were going a moment ago. A ball stripped from a runner, now on the ground with an agonized scrum of players all grabbing for it: the offense, anxious to recover it and minimize the loss of yardage; the defense, eager to get an unexpected turn with it. The yin and yang in this turnover is the agony of one team played against the ecstasy of the other, feelings compounded when points are scored off the turnover and the momentum of the game swings to favor the other team. Hell on a fall day.
During the game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New York Giants, each team had three fumbles, and each team lost two of them to the other team and recovered one of them. A turnover occurred when the ball changed possession during those fumbles. The Seahawks were intercepted once by the Giants, and the Giants were intercepted three times by the Seahawks; each of those interceptions was a turnover (the ball was turned over to the other team).
The next component of a turnover is whether the recovering or intercepting team scores points during the ensuing possession. In this game, the Giants scored a touchdown (7 points including the extra point) and the Seahawks scored a touchdown and a field goal (10 points total, including the extra point). Seattle was more effective with their possessions after a turnover than the Giants were.
Every possession is an opportunity to score; every punt is an opportunity given to the other team. Gaining possession of the ball because of a turnover is a bonus opportunity to score, and a punt is an extra opportunity lost that may haunt a team in the end.
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