Mile High Sports

Broncos come out of bye week with disastrous first half against winless Giants

Casey Light

All the talk coming out of Denver’s bye week was that they could not overlook the visiting New York Giants, who came to the Mile High City in Week 6 still seeking their first victory of the 2017 season. Through one half, the 3-1 Broncos looked like the team that was occupying the bottom of the standings.

A pair of interceptions by Trevor Siemian, including a pick-six, was just one of several things that went wrong for Denver through a first half that ended with the Broncos trailing 17-3. Brandon McManus missed a field goal and the defense gave up a huge run that spelled doom early. Even from the opening possession, it seemed that Denver wasn’t going to be sharp.

The Broncos went three-and-out on the opening possession, with Siemian missing Demaryius Thomas on both second and third down.

The depleted Giants got things going early, with offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan calling the plays instead of head coach Ben McAdoo who had held those duties during New York’s 0-5 start. Tight end Evan Engram had a pair of receptions for 37 yards and running back Orleans Darkwa had one for 13 yards as part of a 69-yard drive that ended in a Aldrick Rosas field goal to give the Giants an early 3-0 lead. It was the first time in 2017 the Broncos allowed an opponent to score on its opening drive.

Denver’s second drive proved even worse than the first. A holding penalty on Allen Barbre on first down pushed Siemian and Company deep into their own territory. Menelik Watson surrendered a strip sack on second down, although Siemian was able to recover the ball. Riley Dixon was on to punt after a 10-yard pass to A.J. Derby on third-and-23.

The Denver defense responded in-kind on New York’s second drive, forcing a three-and-out. Things almost took a terrible turn when Isaiah McKenzie muffed the ensuing punt, but catch interference was called against the Giants and the Broncos took over on their own 23.

Emmanuel Sanders made the first big play of the game for the Broncos, reeling in a 33-yard catch on the second play of Denver’s third drive. Brandon McManus’ struggles at home continued, though, as the kicker missed his fourth field goal try of the season – all at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

New York carried their field-goal lead into the second quarter, then converted a third-and-10 on the second play of the quarter. It was the first third-and-long Denver had allowed in nearly 40 such plays. Darkwa then found a huge hole in the middle of the Denver line for a 47-yard gain to the Broncos’ 13-yard line. Engram continued to haunt Denver when he got around Justin Simmons on a rub route three plays later and found the end zone to give New York a 10-0 lead at the 12:30 mark.

After picking up a pair of first downs Denver got some help on the ensuing drive, getting a pass interference call on third down to keep the drive alive, but it wouldn’t last long. Siemian made a big mistake on second-and-10 from the Giants’ 35 when he missed a wide-open Jamaal Charles on a wheel route. Siemian compounded that with an interception on the very next play, throwing a ball over the middle right into the hands of Landon Collins.

The defense bowed its back, however, and forced a three-and-out on New York’s ensuing possession.

Virgil Green made a big 24-yard grab to get Denver to midfield, but then grabbed a Giants defender on the very next play to back the offense up into a long-yardage situation yet again. Thomas made the biggest play of the half for Denver on third-and-nine from the 50-yard line, elevating to pull down a 40-yard reception to set up first-and-goal. Siemian could not connect on his next three pass attempts, though, and Denver would settle for a 28-yard field goal to put Denver on the board.

Adam Gotsis opened the next drive with a bang for the Denver D, sacking Manning on the first play of the drive. The Broncos forced their third three-and-out of the half.

All that momentum was killed on the next drive, however, when Janoris Jenkins stepped in front of a pass intended for Bennie Fowler and took it 43 yards to the end zone to give the Giants a 17-3 lead.

With 48 seconds remaining in the half, head coach Vance Joseph turned to Brock Osweiler as Siemian retreated to the locker room with a left shoulder injury suffered in pursuit of Jenkins.

It was the first time this season the Broncos trailed at halftime.

As always, the MHS team was busy on social media as things played out. Here’s what they had to say about Denver’s rocky first half (with thoughts from some of our other favorite follows)…

https://twitter.com/TJCarpenterShow/status/919728331154526208

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