Giants dominated by Broncos, playoff hopes diminish
DENVER – Consider the Giants season on life support.
Maybe the team enjoyed too much turkey as part of their Thanksgiving dinner. Whatever it was, there was no sign of them on the field from the opening kickoff as they saw their chances to make the postseason for the fifth straight season officially on the precipice.
Seeing their record drop to 6-5, the Giants saw themselves dominated in all three facets of the game losing 26-6 to the Broncos at INVESCO Field. The loss dropped them two games behind the Cowboys, whoa had beaten the Raiders earlier in the day and one game behind the Packers, who defeated the Lions.
Not since losing 27-6 to the Eagles in 2004, had the Giants scored as many as they did on Thursday night.
The first half was a disaster for the Giants reminiscent of the blowouts they suffered in New Orleans and in Philadelphia during the teams four game losing streak.
Nothing went right and if it were not for the Broncos own ineptitude, the score would have been worse.
An ominous foreshadowing of problems for the Giants came on the teams opening possession. After Eli Manning found Hakeem Nicks for a six-yard completion on first down, the offense needed to call a timeout 32 seconds into the game.
The first three drives of the game resulted on only one first down and the Broncos took an early 6-0 lead on two field goals by kicker Matt Prater.
Things went from bad to worse when the Giants appeared to have their second first down when running back D.J (originally known as Danny) Ware on third-and-5 ran for a first down, but had the ball dislodged by Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan and Brian Dawkins recovered the fumble at the Giants 38.
Four plays later, Denver stuck it in the end zone. Brandon Marshall set up the score when he hauled in a one handed 28-yard reception to put the ball on the 10. Two plays later, running back Knoshown Moreno run off right tackle into the end zone for a 13-0 advantage.
Another field goal by Prater gave Denver a 16-0 lead at halftime. Their defense rendered the Giants offense useless, holding them to 38 total yards and 3 first downs.
These were the results of the Giants first six possessions: punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt.
Not good.
Denver tried to allow the game to be close in the third quarter when cornerback Terrell Thomas intercepted quarterback Kyle Orton’s pass and returned it to the Giants 40. Manning and the offense converted the turnover into a 39-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes to make it 16-3.
After the defense forced another punt and the Giants started at the own 14 and moved the ball to the Broncos 20. A touchdown would have brought the game to within one possession. However, penalties as they have during this losing skid would afflict them. Kevin Boss held on first down. Steve Smith committed offensive pass interference on the same play Ware suffered a concussion. Eventually, they had to settle for a 52-yard field goal by Tynes to trim the deficit to 16-6.
The final nail came early in the fourth quarter when the Broncos calmly moved the ball inside the Giants red zone. Facing third-and-8 from the 17, Orton found a wide-open Brandon Stokley on a slant pattern to up the lead to 23-6.
On the play, Denver ran three receivers to the right but as Stokley made his break to the inside, no Giants defender covered him, allowing him to waltz into the end zone untouched.
With no threat of running game the entire night (57 yards), the offense needed to pass on nearly every down (six rushing attempts in the second half). Unable to get separation from the Broncos defensive backs, the Giants could do anything on offense (267 total yards).
Elvis Dumervil came around the left edge to sack Manning on the next possession and Denver recovered the ensuing fumble to seal the game with just over nine minutes remaining. Prater’s fourth field goal of the night finish the scoring, upping the margin 20 points.
The supposed strength of the Giants team, its running game and offensive line, was again non-existent. Brandon Jacobs ran only 11 times for 27 yards. Manning, pressured all night from a combination of Denver’s coverage schemes and blitz packages was 25-of-40 for 230 yards and an interception.
Now trailing by two games in the NFC East, the Giants find themselves on the brink of division extinction if they lose to Dallas in 10 days.
A season with so much promise at 5-0 has gone astray.
The clock is now ticking on the Giants season.
DENVER – Consider the Giants season on life support.
Maybe the team enjoyed too much turkey as part of their Thanksgiving dinner. Whatever it was, there was no sign of them on the field from the opening kickoff as they saw their chances to make the postseason for the fifth straight season officially on the precipice.
Seeing their record drop to 6-5, the Giants saw themselves dominated in all three facets of the game losing 26-6 to the Broncos at INVESCO Field. The loss dropped them two games behind the Cowboys, whoa had beaten the Raiders earlier in the day and one game behind the Packers, who defeated the Lions.
Not since losing 27-6 to the Eagles in 2004, had the Giants scored as many as they did on Thursday night.
The first half was a disaster for the Giants reminiscent of the blowouts they suffered in New Orleans and in Philadelphia during the teams four game losing streak.
Nothing went right and if it were not for the Broncos own ineptitude, the score would have been worse.
An ominous foreshadowing of problems for the Giants came on the teams opening possession. After Eli Manning found Hakeem Nicks for a six-yard completion on first down, the offense needed to call a timeout 32 seconds into the game.
The first three drives of the game resulted on only one first down and the Broncos took an early 6-0 lead on two field goals by kicker Matt Prater.
Things went from bad to worse when the Giants appeared to have their second first down when running back D.J (originally known as Danny) Ware on third-and-5 ran for a first down, but had the ball dislodged by Broncos linebacker Mario Haggan and Brian Dawkins recovered the fumble at the Giants 38.
Four plays later, Denver stuck it in the end zone. Brandon Marshall set up the score when he hauled in a one handed 28-yard reception to put the ball on the 10. Two plays later, running back Knoshown Moreno run off right tackle into the end zone for a 13-0 advantage.
Another field goal by Prater gave Denver a 16-0 lead at halftime. Their defense rendered the Giants offense useless, holding them to 38 total yards and 3 first downs.
These were the results of the Giants first six possessions: punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt.
Not good.
Denver tried to allow the game to be close in the third quarter when cornerback Terrell Thomas intercepted quarterback Kyle Orton’s pass and returned it to the Giants 40. Manning and the offense converted the turnover into a 39-yard field goal by Lawrence Tynes to make it 16-3.
After the defense forced another punt and the Giants started at the own 14 and moved the ball to the Broncos 20. A touchdown would have brought the game to within one possession. However, penalties as they have during this losing skid would afflict them. Kevin Boss held on first down. Steve Smith committed offensive pass interference on the same play Ware suffered a concussion. Eventually, they had to settle for a 52-yard field goal by Tynes to trim the deficit to 16-6.
The final nail came early in the fourth quarter when the Broncos calmly moved the ball inside the Giants red zone. Facing third-and-8 from the 17, Orton found a wide-open Brandon Stokley on a slant pattern to up the lead to 23-6.
On the play, Denver ran three receivers to the right but as Stokley made his break to the inside, no Giants defender covered him, allowing him to waltz into the end zone untouched.
With no threat of running game the entire night (57 yards), the offense needed to pass on nearly every down (six rushing attempts in the second half). Unable to get separation from the Broncos defensive backs, the Giants could do anything on offense (267 total yards).
Elvis Dumervil came around the left edge to sack Manning on the next possession and Denver recovered the ensuing fumble to seal the game with just over nine minutes remaining. Prater’s fourth field goal of the night finish the scoring, upping the margin 20 points.
The supposed strength of the Giants team, its running game and offensive line, was again non-existent. Brandon Jacobs ran only 11 times for 27 yards. Manning, pressured all night from a combination of Denver’s coverage schemes and blitz packages was 25-of-40 for 230 yards and an interception.
Now trailing by two games in the NFC East, the Giants find themselves on the brink of division extinction if they lose to Dallas in 10 days.
A season with so much promise at 5-0 has gone astray.
The clock is now ticking on the Giants season.
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