Raiders' Ball Security has Been Key as of Late

The Las Vegas Raiders have not turned the ball over once in their last two victories and three of their last four games.

Turnovers were the Las Vegas Raiders' most prominent issue in roughly the first two-thirds of the 2023 NFL season,

Until Week 12, the Raiders had turned the ball over 21 times, averaging almost two turnovers per game.

Lately, however, protecting the ball has been one of the team's biggest strengths and one of the main reasons it has succeeded in recent weeks. Las Vegas has not turned the ball over in three of its last four games, two of which were victories. 

Raiders rookie quarterback Aidan O'Connell has been a significant part of the protection, having thrown only one interception in the last four games.

While the ball security has not always allowed the offense to thrive, especially on Christmas Day against the Kansas City Chiefs, it has tremendously benefited the defense. This group has been the best defensive unit in the league in the Raiders' two recent victories.

"I think it's huge," O'Connell told reporters on Wednesday. "Just being able to give our defense a chance, for the most part, is huge for us. Our defense is playing super well.

"And so, for us to -- obviously, we want to score as many points as possible, we want to play how we played against the Chargers. But sometimes, it's a team sport, so there's ups and downs on both sides of the ball, and our defense has done an awesome job keeping us in a lot of games. And so, yeah ... to not turn the ball over, I think is huge confidence for our offense going forward, and our whole team."

While the offense has done its job to secure the ball in recent games, the defense has done its job to obtain the ball, making seven takeaways in its last two games. 

 The Raiders rank fourth in the league in turnover margin over their last three games with plus-1.3.

The Silver and Black continue the season on New Year's Eve versus the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. 

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