Giants (2-4) Broncos (4-2)
On Sunday the Broncos were playing their game in London against the Jets. They didn't come up with many points, but it didn't take much as their defense was solid, and the Broncos ended up with a 13-11 win over the Jets.
The Giants were in a Thursday night match up with the Philadelphia Eagles. Both teams were coming off a loss, and not many thought the Eagles would be the one to continue on that path. The Giants surprised all their doubters with their 34-17 win over the Eagles.

Denver Broncos
Vic Fangio was the head coach of the Denver Broncos for three years, starting in 2019. Giants fans will recognize his name, as he is currently the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles. In Fangio's first two years with the Broncos, they started the season 0-4 in 2019, and 0-3 in 2020. Fangio was hoping for a better start in his 2021 season opener with the Giants. Fangio got his wish as the Broncos beat the Giants 27-13, and that's the last time these two teams have played each other.
Fangio's winning didn't continue far, and the Broncos last winning season dated back to 2016, the year following their Super Bowl 50 championship game. In 2022 Nathaniel Hackett became the head coach and was fired mid season. That brings us to Sean Payton, who retired from his head coaching job with the New Orleans Saints that year, and came back in 2023 to coach the Broncos. The Broncos had to trade a 2023 first round pick, and a 2024 second round pick to the Saints. They got Payton released from his contract with the Saints, who also gave back a 2024 third-round pick.
Payton didn't do it in his first year, but in 2024 the Broncos got their first winning season since 2016 with a 10-7 record. They ended up in the playoffs and lost to the Buffalo Bills 31-7. This Sunday the Broncos will be playing a week after coming back from a long trip to Europe. Payton has confirmed that the Broncos requested to not to have a Bye Week. The Broncos will be honoring their Super Bowl 50 championship team.

Denver Broncos Offense
The Broncos haven't been scoring as many points a game as they did last year. Their two losses this season have been by 1 point and 3 points. They struggled last week just to come up with 13 points to secure a win over the Jets. Bo Nix's performance is about on par for how he played in his rookie year. The biggest knock might be his ratio of touchdown passes to interceptions, 9 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. The offensive line has done a good job protecting Nix, and he was one of the least sacked quarterbacks last year. He also knows when to take off, and has taken only 6 sacks in these first six games.
The Broncos have helped themselves by providing an easy check down outlet for Nix. They hadn't had a good pass catching tight end for the last two seasons. They brought in Evan Engram, who was selected in the first round of the 2017 draft by the Giants and played with them for 5 years. Last week Engram was the top receiver catching five of his six targets for 42 yards, and he rushed once for 7 yards. Nix also targets rookie running back RJ Harvey out of the backfield.
Courtland Sutton is the Broncos top receiver, as he's been the last two years running, and Sutton's caught 3 of Nix's 9 touchdown passes. Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims Jr. are next with one each. Those three receivers and Engram have combined for 45 of the teams 63 receiving first downs. The Broncos lost their top running back in free agency and brought in J.K. Dobbins, who has 4 rushing touchdowns. He's had 14 runs of 10 or more yards, which is tied for second in the NFL. None of that was there last week, as Dobbins had 14 carries for 40 yards, a 2.9 average a run.

Denver Broncos Defense
Last year, you couldn't run against this defense or put points up on the board. Denver was ranked third in both categories. As good as those numbers were, this year they're better, giving up even less points and rushing yards. They had a subpar passing defense, and it has improved as well. The Broncos are giving up 55.5 less yards a game as compared to last year. This defense is now third in the NFL, with opponents averaging just 165.2 passing yards a game. The Broncos were the top team in sacks last season with 63, and are on top once again by a wide margin. They have already come up with 30 sacks in just six games.
The only asterisk you can put on any of this is that they played the Jets last week, helping to inflate all the numbers. The Jets came up with with only 45 passing yards, and quarterback Justin Fields was sacked 9 times.
This linebacker group is a tough lot, with Nik Bonitto leading the team and the league, with 8 sacks. Jonathon Cooper is next with 4.5, and Justin Strnad has 3.5. The Broncos like to switch things up at the line before the snap to confuse opposing quarterbacks. That could work well for them, as Jaxson Dart has only three games under his belt as a starter. Getting things wrong up against this pass rushing aggressive defense, would be costly to say the least. Running the ball and passing to tight ends and running backs might be in the Giants best interests for this game.

Giants Offense
Three starts for Jaxson Dart, and he's led the team to a touchdown in every opening drive. You would figure the total points by the end of all those games would have been higher than what the Giants came up with. It was 21 against the Chargers, squeaking out a three point win, and 14 with the Saints for a loss. The last time though against the Eagles, it was 34 points. Does that mean the Giants offense has figured things out? It certainly wouldn't hurt if they started off with a touchdown against the Broncos defense before they settle in, as they are allowing a total of just 15.8 points a game on average.
The Giants offensive line has been playing well, especially since left tackle Andrew Thomas has been back on the field. He hasn't allowed a sack and most likely will be up against Nick Bonito, the league leading sack leader. Center John Michael Schmitz suffered a nose injury in the second half of the Eagles game and was later ruled out with a concussion. Austin Schlottmann did a nice job coming in to replace him, and he will be doing the job again for this game, as Schmitz has been ruled out.
Cam Skattebo has been a work horse, and had a great game last time out. Skattebo carried the ball 19 times for 98 yards, a 5.2 yards per carry average, and he had three touchdowns. This week the Giants might have some more versatility using Tyrone Tracy, Jr. Last week was his first game back after his injury, and he saw limited action the way things were going with Skattebo. Wide receiver Darius Slayton is still sidelined, and the Giants will be hoping to get another big game from Wan'Dale Robinson. Last game, Dart threw to him 7 times, and he pulled in 6 for 84 yards, including his big catch-and-run 35-yard touchdown.

Giants Defense
The defense was more aggressive in their game against the Eagles than they were with the Saints. They kept the pressure on Hurts all game, sacking him 3 times, and cornerback Cordale Flott just about sealed the game shut with his fourth quarter interception and 68-yard return. That dealt Hurts his first interception of the year when the Eagles were threatening to score. Instead, the Giants scored a touchdown three plays later. Whatever they changed from one game to the next, they need to keep at it.
The Broncos have scored no higher than 21 points in their last for games. The Jets coverage on their top receiver was real good. Quarterback Bo Nix was able to target Courtland Sutton just three times, resulting in one catch. You can be sure the Giants studied that with the extra time they had to prepare.
The Broncos left guard Matt Peart suffered an MCL injury early on against the Jets and that hurt their efforts. He's been placed on injured reserve. For the Giants up front, Abdul Carter, Brian Burns, and Kayvon Thibodeaux can bring pressure, but Carter is listed as questionable for this game. The Giants did well against the Eagles limiting Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts to 71 rushing yards. Dexter Lawrence and Thibodeaux are the Giants best run defenders. They'll have to be ready for J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey who are averaging close to 5 yards a carry.

Overall
Things are looking up for the Giants coming off their impressive win over the defending Super Bowl champion division rival Philadelphia Eagles. Was that a statement game showing the Giants have put it all together, or just a sign that the Eagles are not what many expected them to be? The Giants have an opportunity to show who they really are this Sunday playing against the Denver Broncos.

NFC East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Eagles (4-2) at Vikings (3-2)
Sunday at 4:05pm Giants (2-4) at Broncos 4-2)
Sunday at 4:25pm Commanders (3-3) at Cowboys (2-3-1)
The Eagles and Cowboys are the NFC East teams favored to win in these games. Check out.
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Next Games
Oct 26 Giants at Philadelphia
Nov 2 49ers at Giants