As one of the few offensive weapons available to the injury-riddled New York Giants on Sunday night, rookie tight end Evan Engram set a new career high for receiving yards in a 23-10 victory over the Denver Broncos.

Engram led the Giants with 82 yards receiving in the victory, converting five of his seven targets and finding the end zone once. The breakout performance seemed to catch the Broncos off guard, although many in the Denver media were screaming about it during the game.

With the Giants missing their three primary wide receivers, Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall and Sterling Shepard, quarterback Eli Manning had very few pass-catching options at his disposal heading into the game. It seemed logical that he would target Engram, the 23rd overall pick in 2017 out of Ole Miss.

“Obviously, with their injuries coming in offensively, we knew they were going to work No. 88 (Engram) and No. 26 (Giants RB Orleans Darkwa) more. We had a plan to defend No. 88, but it didn’t work. That’s on me,” head coach Vance Joseph said postgame.

Engram entered the game with 200 receiving yards and a touchdown on 19 catches through five games, although he was held without a catch on four targets in Week 5 against the Chargers.

“He’s an athletic tight end, runs a 4.4 [40-yard dash], he’s fast and he’s a guy you definitely have to watch out for. I think he’s just a good talent and he’s going to be a good tight end in this league,” Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall said after the loss.

Despite New York’s depleted receiving corps, Joseph and defensive coordinator Joe Woods elected to cover Engram primarily with a safety or linebacker. The result was not good for the Broncos and frustrating for those watching from home and the press box.

Engram scored New York’s only offensive touchdown of the day, a five-yard pass on a rub route in which he created separation from Broncos safety Justin Simmons. The rookie also made plays with safety Darian Stewart and linebacker Todd Davis in coverage. Even Shaquil Barrett was asked to cover Engram at one point.

While calls from the press box and armchair quarterbacks were for Aqib Talib to cover the rookie, the Broncos weren’t having it. The Giants, it seems, were expecting it.

“They like to play a lot of man-to-man so we had an opportunity to possibly get him matched up on some safeties and try to get him running away,” Giants quarterback Eli Manning said after the game. “So we hit a couple shallow routes to him and hit a slant to him. We had a couple nice plays that we were lucky to take advantage of.”

Denver lost the game Sunday because of much more than an 82-yard day from a tight end. Trevor Siemian had a pair of interceptions, including a pick-six, and Brandon McManus missed a pair of field goals. Still, giving up yards and points to an obvious target – and a rookie no less – had plenty of outside observers scratching their heads about Denver’s gameplan.

Here’s what the crew at MHS and some of our favorite follows on Twitter had to say about Engram’s big night as it unfolded…