Giants' turnover problem concerns Coughlin

There are a lot of aspects for the Giants to be excited about as they enter the bye week. But each of them seems to come with its own parenthetical anchor that prevents too much celebration.

The Giants won a division game against the Cowboys on Monday night (but had to overcome five turnovers and a punt returned for a touchdown to do so). Eli Manning is tied for the league lead with 14 touchdown passes (but he also leads the NFL with 11 interceptions). Ahmad Bradshaw has an NFL-high 708 rushing yards and 10 runs of 20 or more yards (but he also has lost more fumbles - four - than the next five top rushers combined).

With a 5-2 record that no team in the NFC can top, the Giants have been able to withstand their propensity for giving opponents the football. That will not last, Tom Coughlin said Tuesday.

"There isn't any question in my mind that this is a critical factor," he said. "We were able to overcome it [Monday] night, but we were most fortunate."

The Giants have certainly been fortunate so far. They are minus-5 in turnover differential, having given the ball away 21 times. There are six teams that have a worse differential, and they have 12 wins among them.

It's difficult to say whether the turnovers are making the Giants' wins more or less striking. They are certainly making them more difficult than they could be. This was the Giants' first victory when they had five or more turnovers since they lost three fumbles and had two passes intercepted against the Cowboys in a 27-24 overtime win Nov. 4, 2001. But according to some players, the ability to absorb those mistakes and bounce back to win is what counts.

That was the Giants' thinking in the locker room at Cowboys Stadium late Monday night after the 41-35 win. No one was focusing on the fuzzy details, they were simply enjoying the image in its entirety. It was as if Monet and not Manning had painted the impressionistic victory.

"We won, man," guard Chris Snee said. "There will be time to watch the tape and see that the turnovers were not necessary and really could have killed a great offensive and defensive performance. The thing is that we were able to overcome all of that, which says a lot about this team."

Overcoming turnovers may, for now, be easier than eliminating them. Coughlin noted that maintaining possession of the ball will be an emphasis during the one week of the regular season without a game to prepare for.

"It is an awareness thing and it is something that no one harps upon more than we do," Coughlin said. He also said he thought the team had put its turnover proclivity behind it. "We thought we had that under control,'' he said. "Obviously, we didn't.''

Still, Coughlin sounded very high on his team. After the game, he said there were times when the Giants were "as good as there is in the NFL." Tuesday, he continued with the praise, saying: "I think this team is capable of playing outstanding football."

There seems to be just one thing standing in their way.

"If we can eliminate those turnovers and still play with the rhythm, the confidence, the swagger that we had [Monday night]," Snee said, "we will be a tough team to beat."

They might be, anyway.