Since When have Turnovers NOT Mattered?

                Last I checked, the old adage that “You win the turnover battle, you win the game” still held true. Think about the last two Super Bowl Champions, they weren’t the teams that necessarily stopped their opponents the most consistently (though Green Bay’s 2010 defense is FAR superior to the Saints 2009 defense), but they both excelled in getting turnovers and capitalizing on said turnovers. No matter how you look at the game, turnovers are still vital to having a quality defense. A defense that is key to winning a championship.

                Yet, in-spite of this iron-clad fact, there has been a trend in the mainstream media and fandom of discounting the importance of interceptions, particularly for cornerbacks. Instead, the focus has shifted to looking at how often a corner will allow pass to be completed, to the point of excluding all other aspects of the game. Perhaps my thinking is a too-old fashioned, but isn’t it more important to make the opponent pay if they challenged you rather than simply preventing a pass from being completed?

                On the basis of this question, I’m going to say that DeAngelo Hall, considered overrated because he allows a lot of catches and is occasionally burned, is every bit as good a corner as Nnamdi Asomugha, considered one of the best corners in the NFL.

                ……………Don’t look at me in that tone of voice. Hear me out.

                I’m not saying that DeAngelo Hall is without his flaws. He gambles way too much and will more often than not try to strip the ball rather than tackle the receiver. He also doesn’t play up tight that often, giving a good deal of cushions and is content to simply allow catches in front of him rather than trying to prevent those catches. All of those are a given, but that being said, Asomugha is hardly a dangerous corner either. While there isn’t a large sample to look at, since teams rarely throw at him, he has only 11 career interceptions (8 coming in one season) and barely registers in terms of recovering or forcing fumbles. His entire career, fear and all, is built off of one great season he had in 2006.

                The point being is that both are great corners. Both are in the top ten or twelve of corners in the NFL, but neither is among the top three and neither is complete. The best corners are those guys that most consistently do both. Think about Deion Sanders. Deion was known for taking away half of the field and rarely ever being challenge by opposing quarterbacks. However the reason he was so feared is because whenever he got the ball in his hands, he was a threat to take it to the house, and he was very good at taking the ball away. In fact, you could almost say that Deion was the best combination of Asomugha and Hall. He had Asomugha’s ability to scare teams away and Hall’s playmaking ability. That is the kind of corner who should be considered the best.