Turnovers killing Giants as they ready for matchup against Bears

Earlier this week, former New York Giants great Tiki Barber suggested to Pro Football Talk that coach Tom Coughlin has begun losing control of his team.

"Right now, Tom Coughlin is in a crisis," claimed Barber, who coincidentally will be inducted into the Giants' Ring of Honor at halftime of Sunday's game against the Bears.

"His job is certainly in jeopardy."

While the Giants (1-2) certainly aren't living up to their billing, their poor start has less to do with lack of chemistry or discipline than their inability to avoid bad NFL math.

Here's the league's inescapable equation:

Fact 1: Going into the Bears game on Sunday night (7:20 p.m., Ch. 5), only one team has exceeded the Giants' 10 turnovers.

Fact 2: Teams that lost the turnover battle in the first three weeks this season went 6-31.

That's a .162 winning percentage and includes the Bears' Week 1 victory over Detroit that would've been a loss if not for the irrational rule that took away Calvin Johnson's last-minute touchdown catch.

Seventh-year quarterback Eli Manning already has thrown 6 interceptions, a staggering rate compared to the 24 picks he threw in 32 starts during 2008-09.

"I can tell you we've had more tipped balls than I ever want to see in my lifetime again," Coughlin said.

"It seems like we've had tipped balls in every game and balls that are tipped normally end up going the wrong way. If they're tipped in the middle of the field, they're going to go the wrong way. I attribute those to us."

Especially the one last week against Tennessee when Manning tried a left-handed shovel pass when the Giants were on the Titans' 2-yard line.

Manning's ill-advised choice wound up in the hands of Titans corner Jason McCourty and helped to turn a 3-0 Tennessee lead into a 29-10 triumph.

Such turnovers are wrecking a Giants team that's averaging 62 more total yards per game than it allows.

"We're just trying to find our rhythm," Manning said. "For us, we've just got to avoid the bad plays. We've done a number of really good things. It seems like the bad plays are really bad."

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