Little Giants bully Broncos

The Denver Broncos failed to capitalize on the most generous of schedule gifts from the NFL as they had a bye week leading up to their primetime showdown at home against a winless New York Giants team that seemed to be actively falling apart as the week went on. Between significant injury issues, suspensions, and other drama, the Giants came in as enormous underdogs but walked out of Denver with their first win of the season, 23-10.

In a desperate attempt to get back into the game, the Broncos were able to drive 58 yards down the field in just seven plays to score their only touchdown of the game, a 13-yard pass from Trevor Siemian to tight end Jeff Heuerman. The touchdown came late in the fourth and was more of a statistical boost than anything meaningful in a game long decided by Denver’s multitude of mistakes.

A theme throughout the night, Denver was able to move the ball but they simply couldn’t capitalize and halfway through the fourth quarter, the Broncos were shut down on fourth and goal from the one when C.J. Anderson was stopped shy. Vance Joseph challenged the play but a review proved inconclusive and the Broncos came away with zero points, giving the Giants the ball with a 20-3 lead and just over eight minutes remaining in the game.

Facing mounting pressure in a game that wasn’t supposed to be particularly close, the Broncos opened the fourth quarter by going for it on fourth down and converted it but Demaryius Thomas continued Denver’s inability to get out of their own way with a fumble on the play and it was naturally recovered by the Giants, stalling yet another drive inside New York territory.

In a game filled with mistakes all over the place, the teams traded blocked field goals late in the third quarter as Brandon McManus racked up his missed field goals to five on the year through just five games so far.

The second half began as well as the Giants could have realistically hoped as they struck first in the third quarter with a sufficient drive to get into field goal range and Aldrick Rosas nailed his second attempt of the night, this time from 53 yards out to push New York ahead, 20-3.

Things started off slowly for Denver and never really amped up throughout the first half. After a three-and-out by the Broncos, the Giants took the ball and easily marched down the field with a 13-play, 69-yard drive that stalled inside the ten and resulted in a 25-yard field goal, giving the Giants a 3-0 lead.

The teams then traded three-and-outs before the Broncos mounted a respectable drive that resulted in a missed field goal by McManus, his fourth miss at home this season. He missed just three kicks at home last year.

The missed kick sparked a flurry of action on both sides as the Giants seized the momentum and trekked down the field on a seven-play, 75-yard drive capped off by a five-yard touchdown reception from rookie tight end Evan Engram, pushing the visiting team ahead 10-0.

The Broncos then worked their way down the field again, only to see Trevor Siemian overthrow Demaryius Thomas for a Landon Collins interception. Nothing came of the turnover but the turnover was a sign of things to come for the shaky Siemian.

Denver got the ball back and put together their first scoring drive of the night midway through the second quarter as a nine-play, 70-yard drive stalled at the Giants’ ten. The Broncos settled for a 28-yard field goal from McManus to get them on the board and down just 10-3.

Denver’s defense continued to hold New York’s offense to minimal gains and the offense got the ball back late in the second quarter with a sense of urgency to put points on the board before halftime but Siemian’s erratic accuracy issues showed up again in the form of a terrible throw that was intercepted by Janoris Jenkins and returned 43 yards for a touchdown, stunning the once-fervent home crowd and giving the Giants a 17-3 lead at the break.

Siemian finished the game 29-for-50 for 376 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions.