CHARLOTTE — Turnovers, coaches famously like to say, come in bunches.

"You might go two or three games without a turnover and one game have four of them," offered cornerback Jaycee Horn this week.

Just like hitting in baseball, or a 3-point shooter getting hot in basketball, turnovers are contagious, and—as Horn, who had an interception in Week 1, continues—"You got to be ready for the ops when they come around."

On the season, the Carolina Panthers are still minus one in the turnover margin, after going 1-3 versus the Jags and 1-2 in Arizona in that column. But the takeaways came in a big bunch this past Sunday for the Panthers. The defense nabbed three total: two interceptions including one returned for a touchdown by Chau Smith-Wade, and a fumble. There was one fumble on special teams, but the offense didn't turn it over against the Falcons, putting the Panthers right side-up in the all-important margin for the Week 3 win.

"I feel like turnovers come in bunches," safety Lathan Ransom said. "You kind of see that throughout watching games. Watch a lot of football. Once you get one turnover, more tend to come."

The rookie Ransom forced the fumble on Sunday, something he developed a reputation for while at Ohio State. He forced six fumbles in his career with the Buckeyes, including three his senior year, when OSU won a National Championship.

"I take pride in forced fumbles and just trying to—every tackle is getting an attempt on the ball," he said.

What does Ransom believe is the key to punching out those fumbles?

"Accuracy," interjected safety Demani Richardson from the locker next to Ransom's. It was Richardson who recovered the Ransom forced fumble on Sunday, the second turnover in his two-year career after an interception in his rookie season.

"Yeah," nodded Ransom, "Yeah, that's it, exactly what he said. It's just accuracy. It don't got to be the hardest punch, but it's just time. Time it right and just hit in the right spot of the football. That's what I try to do."

There can be a danger in chasing turnovers too much, when players become independent contractors and ignore the job they're being asked to do on any given play. The balance comes in doing your job, while trusting the foundation of that work, which Dave Canales has always preached is "all about the ball."

The Panthers call their second day of work each week "Turnover Thursday" and work on creating those when, to quote Horn again, "the ops, when they come around."

And if turnovers are contagious for a defense, it stands to reason the same could be true for an offense as well. Panthers defenders have been intentional this week to give the upcoming opponent, the Patriots, their flowers and point out what Drake Maye and crew do well on offense.

But the numbers are clear and hard to ignore: New England gave up five turnovers last week in a loss to the Steelers. Four were fumbles, with two coming from Rhamondre Stevenson, and an interception. The Pats had no turnovers in Week 2, and a lone interception in Week 1. Those that came, yes, in bunches in Week 3 though are on tape for the Panthers to narrow in on this week during preparation.

"Teams that they were playing been doing a good job of just punching at the football," noted Horn. "So, we definitely going to try to attack it that way. If you're punching at the ball, we do that every game, so hopefully we can get a couple."

Added Derrick Brown, "Yeah, I mean you watch the running back turn the ball over, you know you definitely want to try to highlight that going into next week. I think for us it's just being consistent. I mean we had a few weeks now we had takeaways, so we like to just be able to keep that going."

Turnovers come in bunches, they say, and at least in Week 3, the Panthers reaped the benefits. Whether that continues Sunday in New England remains to be seen, but Ransom promises one thing won't change.

"At the end of day," he said, "every time we step on the field, we're trying to attack the ball."