Here is how to lose football games: In their last nine quarters of football, the New Orleans Saints have turned the ball over on eight of their 23 possessions.

Starting with the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders and ending with their final possession against the Vikings, the Saints have thrown three interceptions and fumbled the ball away five times while forcing only two of their own turnovers in that same span.

Their opponents have made those takeaways count. Four of them have turned into touchdowns, and two others — Juwan Johnson’s fumble against Las Vegas and quarterback Tyler Shough’s second interception against Minnesota — allowed the opponent to kneel out the remainder of the game clock.

Last week against Minnesota, New Orleans took a lead into the halftime break only to give the ball away on three of their five second-half possessions — a fumble on the opening kickoff, and a pair of interceptions thrown by Shough.

“Obviously that’s going to steer the outcome of the game very quickly,” coach Kellen Moore said. “We’ve got to do a better job in those situations, learn from them, and understand sometimes that it’s not bad to punt in certain situations.”

Only the Los Angeles Chargers (13) have turned the ball over more than the Saints (11) this season, and only the Indianapolis Colts can match New Orleans’ minus-6 turnover margin through five weeks. Unsurprisingly, the Saints, Colts and Chargers have a combined 3-12 record this season.

Unsurprising because few statistics are better predictors of win/loss outcome than turnover margin. Eighteen NFL teams are currently on the positive side of the turnover ledger, and of those, 14 have a winning record. The NFL’s three remaining undefeated teams — the Vikings, 49ers and Chiefs — are a combined plus-13 on turnovers this season.

What has made the turnovers hurt even more is the situations in which they occurred. All but two of the Saints’ 11 turnovers have come in the second half this season, and even more strikingly, eight of them have come with the Saints trailing by one score.

Shough has been one of the few consistent bright spots for the Saints offense this season. Through five weeks, he ranks among the NFL’s top 10 passers in yards (1,299), completion percentage (66.8%) and touchdown passes (nine).

But ball security has been a problem for the second-year signal caller.

He has nearly matched his interception total from last season’s 11-game debut already, having thrown five interceptions through five weeks. Shough has also lost three fumbles. His eight total turnovers are only one shy of the league high so far this season; only New England quarterback Drake Maye and Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert have more, with nine.

“It’s a growing experience for Tyler,” Moore said. “He’s done a lot of good things. Unfortunately, we’ve had a couple turnovers we get to learn from. … We talk about every turnover, how it happened and why it happened and how we can move forward.”

There have been lessons within those turnovers.

Some of them, Shough said, were simply a product of the situation. His last interception against Minnesota, when he chucked a prayer deep downfield for Chris Olave, came on a third-and-12 from the Saints’ own 18-yard line with about three minutes to go in a game the Saints trailed by 10. It was desperation time.

In fact, half of the Saints’ 10 offensive turnovers this season have occurred on third or fourth down. But even on some of those, there are teaching moments.

Take Shough’s first interception against Minnesota, when a once-promising Saints drive had been torpedoed by multiple penalties. On the second-and-26 play, Shough bailed to his right with linebacker Eric Wilson in hot pursuit and attempted to fit a ball to Bryce Lance between high and low defenders.

It was an extremely low-percentage throw with high potential for disaster, and the pass was easily intercepted by Byron Murphy and returned into Saints territory. The score at the time was 13-7.

“Whenever you get in these situations, don’t try to get it all back,” Shough said. “I don’t need to be Superman and try to make up for a previous play. I think I can be a little more detailed when it comes to that.

“I’m never going to shy away from ripping it; in all those situations you’ve got to be able to be confident, be firm. But there are a couple times where I can go find a running lane or just take a sack. That’s part of it, part of the growth process for me as well.”