GIANTS FINALLY WIN ONE!
Giants get first victory with stunning upset of Broncos
DENVER — The Giants got a Rocky Mountain High the natural way Sunday night, by earning a victory that was so unexpected that there was some doubt whether they would even bother to make the trip and actually show up. Oh, they showed up. After five weeks and five games of abject failure, the Giants summoned within them a bludgeoning end-to-end performance that defied any and all explanation. They took the field without six starters and what Ben McAdoo, their beleaguered head coach, said was “nobody giving us a chance in hell to go win this ballgame.’’ He was not wrong. There was no athletic or emotional reason to think the Giants were gearing up for any sort of inspiring or effective product.
Yet they did. The Giants arrived here winless and exited with a 23-10 victory over the stunned Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. What was supposed to be a three-hour, nationally televised showcase in all that is wrong with the Giants became an upset that shined a bit of light on this dark Giants season.
It was a wild and crazy night for the Giants. They came in with one interception in five games and got two on Trevor Siemian in the first half, the second returned 43-yard by Janoris Jenkins for a touchdown just before halftime. They got big plays from guys named Donte Deayon, Kerry Wynn and Avery Moss. The longest run of the night was not by a Broncos running back, but by Orleans Darkwa. Jenkins also had a strip and forced fumble on De- maryius Thomas. Jason PierrePaul resurfaced with a three-sack eruption.
The Giants forced three turnovers and did not commit any. The Broncos came in with the NFL’s top-rated run defense yet Darkwa carved them up, as the Giants relied on the run more than at any time this season.
The Giants (1-5) opened up a 20-3 lead and did not give up a touchdown until only 4:07 remained. By then, it was too late for the Broncos (3-2), who came off their bye week and were embarrassed at home.
McAdoo hit the Mountain Time zone with a significant change in his approach, as he gave up the playcalling duties to Mike Sullivan, his offensive coordinator. Talk about a tough opening assignment: Going against the NFL’s top-rated defense without your three top receivers. The Giants did have Odell Beckham, Brandon Marshall or Sterling Shepard on this trip but they did have Beckham’s helmet sitting behind their bench, for inspiration.
The Giants gleefully ran in at halftime leading 17-3, as Jenkins jumped a route by Bennie Fowler on the right sideline and sprinted 43 yards on a pick-six that stunned the crowd. Siemian, locked on Fowler the entire play, was dreadful in the first half and left with what was announced as a left shoulder injury, replaced by Brock Osweiler.
The Giants came in as 12-point underdogs and from the start looked determined to prove wrong their many doubters. They forced the Broncos into a quick three-and-out and then embarked on a ball-control drive that ate 7:02 off the clock, highlighted by a 26-yard catch by rookie tight end Evan Engram. After reaching the Denver 8-yard line, the drive stalled and Aldrick Rosas’ 25-yard field goal put the Giants up 3-0.
Things were going right for the Giants. Brandon McManus was wide right on a 35-yard field goal attempt to keep the Broncos off the board. On a third-and-10 pass play, Manning, pressured, pivoted to his left and hit Roger Lewis for 15 yards. On the next play, Darkwa shot through a hole opened by right tackle Justin Pugh for a 47-yard gain. Pugh pulled to his left and obliterated defensive end Adam Gotsis, giving Darkwa the room he needed. Manning, on a designed rollout, hit Engram for a 5-yard touchdown flip and it was 10-0 early in the second quarter.
Siemian overthrew Demaryius Thomas and Landon Collins took advantage with his first interception of the season. A leaping 40yard grab by Thomas, elevating over Jenkins, led to a McManus field goal to pull the Broncos within 10-3. Undermanned on offense, the Giants were forced into back-to-back three-and-outs but Siemian put points up for the Giants, as Jenkins came away with his sixth career interception return for a touchdown.
Three players made their NFL debuts for the Giants: Receivers Travis Rudolph and Ed Eagan and cornerback Donte Deayon. Eagan’s 20-yard punt return set the offense up on the 37-yard line and a 21-yard catch-and-run by Engram — who ran past linebacker Todd Davis — set up Rosas booming, line-drive 51-yard field goal to increase the Giants lead to 20-3.
Attempting to get closer, the Broncos got nothing when McManus’ 53-yard field goal try was blocked by Kerry Wynn.