by BY TOM ROCK. tom.rock@newsday.com , Newsday

It's a fundamental. Hang on to the ball and the other team won't have a chance to score. While it might not be a glamour stat - recent pursuits of NFL records in touchdowns, passing yards and sacks have garnered more attention - the ability to maintain possession is perhaps the biggest determinator of success.

Nobody in the history of the NFL has done it better than this year's Giants. And yet it wasn't until last week that Eli Manning said he first learned that they were closing in on the significant if not exactly sacred mark.

The Giants finished with only 13 turnovers in 16 games, breaking the 16-game record of 14 set by the 1990 Giants. The Dolphins also finished with 13 turnovers this season for a share of the record; both sure-handed teams are now headed into the playoffs with a division title tucked tightly away like the footballs they carry.

"It's always one of two or three things that are foremost on our minds in terms of keys to victory," Tom Coughlin said of not coughing up the ball. "To have our team exemplify that, I think it's a very positive thing."

Remarkably, only one of those turnovers came from the running backs, who wound up leading the NFL in rushing. The Giants had 502 carries this year and maintained possession on 501 of them.

"That's a very good stat for us," Coughlin said. "I wish it were zero, but that is a heck of a stat."

The lone lost fumble was in the first meeting against the Eagles when Brandon Jacobs attempted to hurdle a defender and was hit in midair, losing control of the ball. The Giants fumbled three times in that game, but lost only one. Since that game they've put the ball on the ground only five times in seven games, all of them recovered by the same team.

The other 12 turnovers came from Manning, who threw just 10 interceptions and lost two fumbles. Manning had only two games this season with more than one interception, losses to the Browns and the Cowboys.

Last year Manning threw 20 picks and he came into this season wanting to cut that in half.

"Having fewer turnovers over the year was something that I felt strongly about," Manning said. "A lot of that was on my part with just too many interceptions, so I tried to really cut back. My goal was to be 10 or under, so I kind of reached one of my goals. I was happy about that."

Minimizing turnovers don't always lead to success, and Coughlin knows that more than anyone. In 2002, his final year with the Jaguars, Coughlin's team finished with only 15 turnovers but a 6-10 record. They are the only team to ever have less than one turnover per game and a losing record. Then last year, Coughlin's team wound up with 34 turnovers for a minus-9 differential during the regular season and won the Super Bowl. Of course, once in the playoffs they had only two turnovers in four games and a differential of plus-5.

"When you don't turn the ball over you put yourself in great opportunities," Manning said. "Most games that we lost we were still right in there at the very end just because we hadn't hurt ourselves. We hadn't shot ourselves in the foot, we hadn't turned the ball over and given the other team easy scores. We kind of never give the opposing team anything easy."

Notes & quotes: Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo will meet with the Jets on Saturday to interview for their vacant head coaching job. Spagnuolo is still in consideration for head coaching jobs with the Lions and Browns and might also be a candidate for the newly opened Broncos job. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the Rams are no longer pursuing Spagnuolo for their opening ... The Giants signed CB Rashad Barksdale from their practice squad and LB Rich Scanlon to replace CB Sam Madison, who was put on injured reserve after fracturing his ankle against the Vikings, and waived LB Edmond Miles, who was signed two weeks ago.

Hold on there

The teams with the fewest turnovers in a 16-game season:

Turnovers / Regular-season record

2008 Giants 13 12-4

2008 Dolphins 13 11-5

1990 Giants 14 13-3

1998 Cowboys 15 10-6

2002 Jaguars 15 6-10

2002 Chiefs 15 8-8

2006 Chargers 15 14-2

2007 Patriots 15 16-0

The 1982 Chiefs had 12 turnovers in a strike-shortened nine-game season.

The 1943 Giants and the 1959 Browns each had 14 turnovers in 10- and 12-game seasons, respectively.

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