There's no ceremonial ritual to perform, no otherworldly solution to guzzle that creates correction.
The New Orleans Saints said there's only work — execution, blocking, protection, awareness — that will impede the progress of a turnover rash that needs to be salved.
Entering New Orleans' nationally-televised game against the Falcons (1-2) on Monday night in the Caesars Superdome, the Saints' offense has played roughly 8.5 quarters and an overtime of error-free football, during which the Saints (1-2) have outscored opponents 81-49.
In the remaining 3.5 quarters, they've committed seven turnovers and been outscored 34-0. Six of the turnovers — three interceptions and three fumbles — have been attributed to quarterback Tyler Shough, dimming what would otherwise be a glimmering statistical start to his season.
Three turnovers (two interceptions, one lost fumble) in the first 2.5 quarters against Detroit and three (one interception, two lost fumbles) in the last quarter against the Raiders are numbers that obstruct these: 91 of 132 passing (69 percent) for 917 yards and eight touchdowns, and 14 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown.
"It's play call, it's play design, it's timing of the plays, it's when is the buzzer going off in certain situations," Saints coach Kellen Moore said. "We get to learn from all these situations and we'll learn from all those."
Shough acutely is aware of how he could have avoided the mishaps against the Raiders.
"Each one of those things are correctable," he said. "Fourth down (the fumble on fourth-and-1 from the Raiders' 20-yard line, with 2:21 left), they did a good job popping out in Cover Zero; that was just when I get in an 'out' technique I can play the high-low game or run it.
"The interception (third-and-6 from the Saints' 31 with 8:03 left), I can just hold it down, choke it down and take the sack or run. They did a good job covering it up, that one was completely on me. And I think the (Juwan Johnson) fumble (first-and-10 from the Saints' 40 with 1:02 left), I can put Juwan in a better spot, too, so he's not turned around and the guy is right on him. I think throw it away in that situation with the time-clock management.
"But those are learning lessons from different points in the game to where, how do you kind of manage that. But it's not necessarily like, 'Ah, man, I didn't see the guy.' I feel like we were seeing it well, we were operating well. I think it's more of just a slight shift from that standpoint of how we go about that process. And we have, and we will."
Shough said defenses are more skilled than ever in creating turnovers.
"There's a definite trend in the league that defenders are punching the ball out. Those are huge, momentum-shifting plays," he said. "We have to be aware of that. I'm aware of that constantly, trying to keep two hands on the ball, trying to be aware of where I'm at and I've got to continue to do a better job of that. Every single week, it's a focus because everyone is so good at it. All the guys on the Falcons are really good ball strikers, so we're going to be prepared for it and do our job."
Part of the job has been accepting responsibility when the turnovers do occur, and the Saints have had an excess of accountability. From Moore to Shough to seemingly every rostered player, each has offered up himself as responsible.
"You have leadership and everybody taking ownership of it. I take ownership," Shough said. "The ball is in my hands every play, I control what can happen a lot of the time. I can't control certain elements, but I can control a lot of those things. Two hands on the ball, turnovers, those things can be killers. It's constantly a balance and it's why I play the position. It's so fun to be able to have that dynamic. We're going to keep growing, I'm going to keep growing every single week and all those guys, I think we're really clicking from an off the field standpoint and on the field in how we keep collectively meshing that way.
"I've got to take ownership of everything and I think it starts with my preparation. I'm going to make a lot of mistakes and more than anything, it's how do I just flush it and I feel like I'm going to flush it. I'm going to go on to the next play, good or bad. But more than anything, I've got the ball in my hands. I can put it in a better spot for those guys, I can do everything I can in that way. And it frees up everybody else; it frees myself up when we're all kind of taking ownership for it. Because we're not going to be perfect, but we can damn sure try to be."
