The New England Patriots, under coach Bill Belichick, are 10-0 in the playoffs when they have fewer turnovers than the opponent. They're .500 otherwise.
So, what do you think Belichick emphasized this week? Apparently he had footballs coated in Vaseline and baby powder to drive home the point.
"Can't have it," running back Stevan Ridley told the Boston Herald's Jeff Howe. "It's crunch time, man, and turnovers, however they come, fumble, interception, drops, we can't have that. It's all up there. Everything is in front of us right now.
"So what we do with it from here, I don't want to be that guy that they're pointing the finger at and saying, 'my bad.' I'm trying to play sound football and play perfect football. This is the time. This is what we cashed in for. It's what we have to do to get to the next step. For us, it's what we have to focus on."
Ridley lost a fumble in the Patriots' playoff opener last year and didn't play a single snap in the conference championship or Super Bowl. He doesn't want that to happen again.
Vaseline and baby powder? Yup...
Follow Kareem Copeland on Twitter @kareemcopeland.
