Sunday night was shaping up to be a cakewalk for the Denver Broncos. They were well rested coming off a bye week. The team they were facing, the New York Giants, was winless and without two of its best players, Odell Beckham Jr., who fractured his ankle last weekend, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who's serving a suspension.
All that amounted to the Broncos entering the game as 13.5 point favorites. How wrong Vegas was.
The Giants clobbered the Broncos, 23-10. New York rushed for 148 yards against what was thought to be Denver's improved rush defense and took advantage of any abysmal outing from Trevor Siemian.
Siemian threw for 376 yards and a touchdown, but don't let those numbers fool you. He was awful. Siemian threw two first-half interceptions. His second pick, which came with less than 1 minute remaining in the first half, was a backbreaker. Janoris Jenkins returned the errant pass 43 yards for a score, which allowed the Giants to go into the break with a 17-3 lead.
Brock Osweiler briefly got into the game when Siemian went back to the locker room to get his shoulder checked out following Jenkins' pick-six. But when the second half started, Siemian was back in as the starter. #Brocktober was short lived.
Denver lost the turnover battle three-zero. It also struggled in special teams. Kicker Brandon McManus missed a pair of field goals. McManus shanked a 35 yarder to the right in the first quarter, then watched a 51-yard attempt get blocked in the third quarter.
On offense, the Giants beat the Broncos by feeding running back Orleans Darkwa and finding tight end Evan Engram. Darkwa carried the ball 21 times for 117 yards. He tore through a rushing defense that was among the NFL's stingiest through the first five weeks of the season. Engram caught five passes for 82 yards. He scored the game's first touchdown in the second quarter.
The Broncos, who fell to 3-2 with the loss, travel to Los Angeles to face the Chargers next weekend. Denver plays seven of its final 10 games on the road.
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