Colts at Steelers, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, WXIN-59

INDIANAPOLIS – There are many paths to victory in the NFL.

The most direct is, of course, score plenty of points and play great defense. Thing is, the Indianapolis Colts are not exactly well-positioned to either of those right now.

An Andrew Luck-less offense and an overhauled defense yet to mesh make that a tough blueprint to emulate. But the Colts are trying to improve their odds by adding an important wrinkle.

The starting defense has produced three takeaways in the team’s first two preseason games, and the Colts believe that’s the product of the increased emphasis coaches are placing on turnovers during practices.

More Colts coverage

• What's Pat McAfee up to these days?

• What's Chuck Pagano really saying?

• How special will special teams be?

How far are the Colts going to stress turnovers?

Put it this way: They’re charting them — literally.

There’s a chart hanging in the defensive meeting rooms that keeps tabs on takeaways, deflections and the like. Competition has ensued. Results have followed.

“I think it’s a cultural thing,” defensive coordinator Ted Monachino said. “As we emphasize it every day in our unit meeting, we’re putting up a totals board every day of who’s getting their hand on the ball, who’s disrupting the ball and who is knocking the ball (away). The more you emphasize it, the more they’ll do it and our guys have done a great job of just taking the ball and running with it.

“It’s going to be really important for us to create as many short fields as we can and that’s why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

Said coach Chuck Pagano: “You’re either going to be up there and you’re going to have a bunch of (marks) by your name or you’re going to have zero. It kind of sticks out.”

Saturday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys featured a pair of first-quarter turnovers by the (mostly) starting defense. Linebacker John Simon and safety Matthias Farley combined to jar the ball loose from running back Darren McFadden, with cornerback Vontae Davis recovering to slam the door on a possible touchdown drive. The Cowboys, after an effortless 95-yard touchdown drive on their opening possession, had advanced to the Colts’ 15-yard line.

“We were fortunate to get the ball, otherwise we’re sitting there down two scores — minimum 10, probably 14 points — on the road,” Pagano reflected. “You can’t play football like that.”

Then, with the Colts’ starting offense sputtering (again), the defense came through with another turnover moments later. Linebacker Barkevious Mingo shed a blocker and swatted the ball loose from Dallas quarterback Kellen Moore. Linebacker Lavar Edwards was in perfect position to scoop and score from 15 yards out. A defensive score was precisely what the offensively challenged team needed.

This followed Simon’s interception against of the Detroit Lions’ Matthew Stafford off Davis’ pass deflection on Detroit’s opening possession during Week 1 of the preseason.

But this is about more than just turnovers. The Colts’ defenders have had active hands, with nose tackle Al Woods, in particular, showing an ability to bat down passes at the line of scrimmage. Woods has used his catcher’s-mitt-size hands to knock down a pair of passes, one in each game. It’s a particularly deflating feeling for an offense because it represents a wasted down. Margus Hunt, the Colts’ 6-8 defensive end, is quite proficient in this area, as well. He blocked a field goal attempt Saturday night.

“That’s taking a down away from them and putting them in a bad situation for their next couple plays,” said defensive end Henry Anderson, who also knocked down a pass attempt against Dallas. “If your pass-rush move doesn’t work, obviously the next best thing is to get that hand up.”

You might ask why the Colts haven’t placed this sort of emphasis on turnovers in the past. Well, every team stresses turnovers in practice to some extent. But the Colts have taken those efforts further this year because they experienced a precipitous dropoff in takeaways last season. The Colts ranked 10th in the category in 2014 with 26 takeaways and 12th in 2015 with 25. But in 2016, the Colts produced just 17 takeaways — 26th most in the NFL.

“Whatever you emphasize, you get,” Pagano said. “We went through the research and development part before (players) got back here. (We realized) we had to be better at a lot of things — but we had to be better at taking care of the football and taking it away.

“There’s not a day that goes by that we don’t have some type of ball-security drill for the offense and a way to create on the defense.”

On a related note, the Colts have committed no turnovers this preseason, giving them a plus-3 turnover ratio that was tied for third among all teams in preseason play entering Week 3 of the exhibition season.

It might not sound like much, but given the Colts’ other challenges, they’ll take it. They’ve got a relatively manageable schedule early in the regular season, and with Luck out of the lineup, turnovers might help Indianapolis level the playing field a bit.

Granted, it’s a hard way to win. But, right now, the Colts are willing to get there however they can.

Follow IndyStar Colts Insider Stephen Holder onTwitter andFacebook.