Pete Carroll's Primary Focus for the Raiders This Season

Every team in the National Football League knows how critical it is to take care of the football. Turnovers directly correlate to winning and losing football games. This is especially true for teams with rosters that still need work.

Last season, the Raiders were tied for the second worst turnover differential in the league, with 13 takeaways and 29 turnovers. They were also tied for second-most turnovers in the league last season.

The season prior to that, the Raiders were closer to the middle of the pack in both categories but still turned the ball over 24 times. Their 12-22 record is largely a result of their inability to limit their turnovers.

In his first season as the Raiders' head coach, Pete Carroll made it clear early what is most important.

"Every day, every day. The first thing I said to them in the first football meeting that we had was, it's all about the ball. And today I started this last meeting that we had, it's all about the ball. It's about how you emphasize it. And it's not just that you emphasize it, it's how well you can emphasize it in creative manners. It's like when, if you're a teacher and you give this great lecture, you think everybody should learn what you wanted them to learn," Carroll said.

"If you don't keep coming back to the same messaging and the same teachings, it's likely that you didn't hit home with everybody. So, it's the way that we emphasize it, and the way we're consistently coming about it as creatively as we can, and whatever it takes to get the message across. Our guys, right from the start from day one, we had some big lessons about taking care of the football on offense and how they're going to tuck it and lock it and all those things. And the guys have just done a really nice job. "

Carroll noted that the ball is equally as important to the defense. Their emphasis on turnovers was evident but the number of times the Raiders' defense went after the football.

"On the other side of the ball, in a mode in this off season where you can't be physical, you can't hit guys, you can't tackle anybody, you have to use your imagination. And so that's a sight in the football when you're attacking it and showing that you sight it and the gestures that you make to show us that you had a shot to punch at the football or take a shot at it, all of those things are the things we value really highly," Carroll said.

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