Most consecutive drives ending in a turnover, one team

[Todd Pence]

On October 26, 1980, the San Diego Chargers suffered a horrific meltdown in the second half of their game against the Dallas Cowboys, coughing the ball up on SIX consecutive drives (3 fumbles, 3 interceptions), helping to turn a 10-point halftime lead into an 11-point loss. Is the six consecutive turnover drives a record for one team?

[conace21]

The most I've found is five, on two occasions.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw six interceptions in NYJ's loss to KC in 2016, including the last five possessions.

Pittsburgh had five straight turnovers to open the second half against Minnesota in 1995.

[Bryan]

On October 26, 1980, the San Diego Chargers suffered a horrific meltdown in the second half of their game against the Dallas Cowboys, coughing the ball up on SIX consecutive drives (3 fumbles, 3 interceptions), helping to turn a 10-point halftime lead into an 11-point loss. Is the six consecutive turnover drives a record for one team?

I went back and watched this very weird game. Dallas didn't have Dorsett, yet they gained 400+ yards in offense mostly by having Danny White throw screen passes to his RBs and TEs (when Jay Saldi is making plays against you, your defense is probably overrated). San Diego could move the ball, but eventually Fouts would make a terrible pass or Muncie would simply put the ball on the turf.

I was amazed at how Muncie would fumble from the slightest contact, which I of course immediately associated with cocaine use. He fumbled 10 times with SD in 1980 even though he came over in midseason. 9 fumbles in 1981...I wonder if San Diego would have been better off with a lesser-talented RB who didn't have Muncie's fumbling problems.

I also wasn't impressed with Fouts. He would throw the ball into the teeth of Dallas' zone, or would heave the ball deep against double coverage. I found this quote from Ron Wolf regarding borderline HOF QBs..."It's the grey area," Wolf said. "Good players, all of them good enough to win, but Hall of Famers? I don't think so. You could add Dan Fouts to that list. I know he's in already, but we played him enough times, when I was with the Raiders. But I never had the feeling that, OK, we're paying the Chargers now -- the one guy we have to worry about is the one throwing the ball."

Anyway, my point with all of this is that I believe the 1980 Chargers did the exact same thing a few weeks prior against Oakland...six turnovers in a row. This was in Week 2 before SD acquired Muncie, and the Chargers ended up winning the game 30-24 in OT. I don't know if the high amount of turnovers was a product of Coryell's offensive scheme, or perhaps Fouts just wasn't all that good.

[bachslunch]

I also wasn't impressed with Fouts. He would throw the ball into the teeth of Dallas' zone, or would heave the ball deep against double coverage. I found this quote from Ron Wolf regarding borderline HOF QBs..."It's the grey area," Wolf said. "Good players, all of them good enough to win, but Hall of Famers? I don't think so. You could add Dan Fouts to that list. I know he's in already, but we played him enough times, when I was with the Raiders. But I never had the feeling that, OK, we're paying the Chargers now -- the one guy we have to worry about is the one throwing the ball."

Found the whole article:

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2008/05/23/wolf-hall

Interesting take on the candidates by Wolf. He looks like a "small hall" guy. Definitely likes some folks I wouldn't have considered (Spec Sanders) and doesn't like others I've thought worthy (Kenny Anderson, Steve Atwater).

[Bryan]

Found the whole article:

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2008/05/23/wolf-hall

Interesting take on the candidates by Wolf. He looks like a "small hall" guy. Definitely likes some folks I wouldn't have considered (Spec Sanders) and doesn't like others I've thought worthy (Kenny Anderson, Steve Atwater).

Yeah, I was actually reading the article for HOF takes on Kuechenberg in another thread (Zimmerman says YES to Kuechenberg, Wolf says NO). A lot of good stuff contained in it. Ron Wolf's opinions are always interesting to me (much more interesting than, say, Ernie Accorsi).

[Evan]

On Sept. 14, 1986, San Diego turned the ball over on all six of its second-half possessions against the Giants, on five Fouts interceptions and a Tim Spencer fumble. The Giants won, 20-7. After the game, Fouts said "Mama said there'd be days like this. She was right." and later "Each game is a new adventure."

The game also featured Phil Simms dropping a flea-flicker pass and Jeff Hostetler playing some WR as a result of injuries to three Giants wideouts.

The previous week, San Diego beat Miami 50-28 without turning the ball over once.

[Todd Pence]

I don't know if this is a college football record, but in their 1975 game against Kansas, the Oklahoma Sooners turned the ball over on their first EIGHT(!) drives of the second half. The farce didn't prevent them from being crowned AP National Champions at season's end.