Giants lose to the Broncos 33-32

"I've seen some disappointing Giants games over the years, but this one was something else. The Giants didn't start off with an opening drive touchdown today as they had in the last three games. They saved that for their third possession when Jaxson Dart connected with tight end Daniel Bellinger for a 44-yard touchdown. Dart got the Giants another in the second quarter, with a 3rd-and-11 pass to Cam Skattebo, who ran it in for a 13 yard touchdown. Jude McAtamney missed on the extra point, but the Giants were up 13-0.
The defense was doing a great job, but safety Jevon Holland and linebacker Abdul Carter both were injured on the Broncos next drive. Quarterback Bo Nix soon completed a 32-yard pass to one of his receivers, and they were down to the Giants 5-yard line. The Giants hung tough for three plays, and I was surprised that Denver decided to go for it on 4th-and-goal from the two yard line. Carter had just come back in, and I don't know if that made a difference, but Nix’s pass went only one yard, and that was it for them.
The Giants had to be careful on offense with this field position. Devin Singletary's two runs for two yards, and a delay of game penalty, had them dealing with a 3rd-and-10 from the two yard line. Dart's pass to Wan'Dale Robinson drew a pass interference call, and the Giants were able to move on, and close out the half. It was great to see the them playing a good game, and able to take a 13-0 lead into halftime
They gave me more to cheer about when, near the end of the third quarter, running back Tyrone Tracy broke free and ran with the ball for a 31-yard touchdown. Then the Giants decided to go for a two point conversion, I guess to make up for the earlier missed point? I hate seeing a team doing that unless they really need to, and the Giants had scored all the points in this game, now leading 19-0. Well the score didn't change when it didn't work.
The Broncos started moving the ball again, and shortly into the fourth quarter they scored a touchdown and had two point conversion. The Giants weren't quitting, and after some big plays, on a 3rd-and-17 from the Broncos 41-yard line, Dart threw a pass that was deflected and snatched by tight end Theo Johnson. He ran it all the way downfield for a touchdown. The extra point was good, and the way it happened, fun to watch the replays. The Giants were sitting with a 26-8 lead with just over ten minutes left to play.
I didn't like seeing the Broncos score again, but it did take five minutes off the clock, and after another two point conversion, the Giants still had a 26-16 ten point lead. On the Giants turn Denver burned two timeouts, and Dart threw an interception. The Broncos didn't have to go far, and they added another touchdown. The Giants still had a three point lead, but suddenly they couldn't move the ball. Skattebo had two runs for two yards, and an incompletion had them going three-and-out.
Of course, the Broncos scored another touchdown in less than a minute, to take a 30-26 lead. I thought the game was over the way the Giants were playing. There were less than two minutes left, and they needed a touchdown. I had some hope when Dart successfully completed a fourth-and-19 pass, and the Broncos were hit with an additional roughing the passer call. That was good, and things got better when the Broncos were next hit with a pass interference call. That gave the Giants a first down at the one-yard line. Dart dove forward on the next play, and it was called short, but then reversed!
The Giants had a touchdown, and took the lead with about half a minute left. I couldn't believe that this comeback drive worked! I was telling everyone 'We won! We won! Well was I wrong, and I hate to keep saying 'of course', but it seems to go with all the Giants games I see. Of course, they missed the extra point. So now with the lead at 32-30 a field goal would give the Broncos a win instead of a tie. The Broncos took the field, and the Giants defense played their worst of the day, letting them easily get the yardage they needed. Denver's field goal gave them a 33-32 win. I still can't believe the ups and downs in this game, and that it all happened."

"It was the same Giants team on the field for the first half, and the second. Do I have that right?..
Last week coming off their 34-17 trouncing of the Philadelphia Eagles, I said the Giants had figured it out. You put points up on the board, the defense does its job, and you get a win. Well they continued to do that for most all of this game in Denver before lapsing back to their old habits. The offense came up with 32 points, almost the same as they did in the Eagles game. The defense gave up almost twice as many points as they did then, and all of them in the fourth quarter.
In the first three quarters, the Giants defense had held the Broncos scoreless. Quarterback Bo Nix was completing less than half his passes. They had sacked him twice, and Nix had managed to run with the ball just two times gaining 0 yards. In the fourth quarter, the Giants defense turned Nix into a star. He was out there completing more passes for more yardage, and threw for two touchdowns.
Going into the fourth quarter the Giants were up 19-0, and after both teams scored again, it was 26-8. The Broncos kept on scoring until they took a 30-26 lead with less than two minutes left to play. The Giants offense during that time had two three-and-outs. The first was a Jaxson Dart pass to Theo Johnson that was intercepted and returned to the Giants 19-yard line. Four plays later, the Broncos had a touchdown, and were trailing by 3 points, 26-23. The Giants gained only two yards on their next turn, and the Broncos were out of timeouts with 2:42 left in the game.
Nix finished off his next drive by running the ball 18 yards into the endzone. That was now his second rushing touchdown, and it gave Denver the lead for the first time in the game, 30-26.
With less than two minutes to play, Dart started off by taking his fourth sack of the day. After an incompletion, a delay of game penalty, and another incompletion, it was 4th-and-19 at the Giants 26-yard line. It wasn't looking good, but Dart completed a 19 yard pass to Wan'Dale Robinson, and a roughing the passer call gave them another 15 yards. The Giants still had 40 yards to go for a touchdown, and needed it as a field goal wouldn't be enough.
After two incompletions, a deep pass to Beaux Collins drew an interference call. Sean Payton drew another for unsportsmanlike conduct, after coming onto the field to maybe 'discuss things' with the referee. The Giants had the ball at the one yard line. Dart plowed up the middle for a one yard touchdown, and after Jude McAtamney missed the extra point, for the second time today, the Giants were up by two points, 32-30. After the kick return, there were just 33 seconds left for Denver to move up from their 23-yard line, and try to score a field goal.
The Giants were struggling with their defense, and now defensive coordinator Shane Bowen decided to go with a three man rush scheme, and drop eight. There's a term called 'prevent defense', and when teams do it poorly, the joke is that they used it, and 'it prevented them from winning'. Well, the Giants certainly fit that bill today. The game was in hand, but they gave a revved up Nix time to look down the field, and to make those two big passing plays he needed to get them into field goal range. The game ended with a 39-yard field goal that gave Denver a 33-32 win over the Giants.
The fourth quarter collapse was caused by some poor coaching decisions. It didn't help that safety Jevon Holland and cornerback Paulson Adebo were off the field after suffering knee injuries. The Giants have to learn how to close out winnable games. They did not do that against the Cowboys, and failed again today. The last time the Giants pulled it off was against the Eagles not very long ago. They'll get a chance to try for a repeat performance when they play their next game in Philadelphia on Sunday."

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