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I’m not going to say much about the game outside on my two main topics. There is already a host of discussion happening.
First down run defense
The Broncos D was gashed for first time this season on first down. The Giants ran the ball 18 times for 102 yards on first down (5.67 ypc) with 47 of that coming on one run. Generally the they were not ripping off chunks of yardage against us on first down (or any down) with the exception of that long run until late in the game when the defense was gassed (that’s when they got the 14 and 15 yard runs on first down). Those three runs accounted for 76 of their 102 yards on first down runs. Their other 15 first down carries netted 26 yards. That’s all well and good, but we still gave up 102 of the 148 rushing yards that we allowed on first down runs.
Our run D had allowed 204 yards total in the first games and we gave up 148 this game. We had only allowed four runs of 10 or more coming into the this game and we allowed four in this game, the three mentioned above paragraph and the 19 yard run on third and 9 that we’ll talk about soon.
For the season we have now allowed 210 yards on 58 first down carries (3.6 ypc).
Stopping the Opponent on 3rd & long
We actually forced the Giants in a fair number of long situations on 3rd down (7 or more yards needed to gain).
| Quarter | Time | ToGo | Location | Detail | Result |
| 1 | 3:55 | 12 | NYG 28 | Shane Vereen middle for 4 yards (tackle by Shelby Harris) | run but short |
| 2 | 14:59 | 10 | NYG 25 | Eli Manning pass complete short left to Roger Lewis for 15 yards (tackle by Bradley Roby) | conversion by catch |
| 2 | 7:44 | 13 | NYG 32 | Eli Manning pass incomplete short right intended for Travis Rudolph (defended by Justin Simmons) | incomplete |
| 2 | 3:01 | 12 | NYG 23 | Eli Manning pass incomplete short left intended for Tavarres King | incomplete |
| 4 | 13:34 | 7 | NYG 42 | Eli Manning sacked by Von Miller for -4 yards | sack |
| 4 | 3:19 | 9 | DEN 40 | Orleans Darkwa left tackle for 19 yards (tackle by Darian Stewart) | conversion by run |
| 4 | 1:18 | 13 | DEN 24 | Wayne Gallman left guard for 2 yards (tackle by Domata Peko) | run but short |
We held them to two of seven on 3rd and long and four of fourteen overall on 3rd down, but those two conversions on 3rd & long were critical. The first came on the Giants’ lone TD drive. It occurred immediately before the 47 yard run on first down. The second came late in the fourth when the Broncos were desperately trying to get a stop and get the ball back, down ten with 3+ minutes left in the game. Any chance of pulling off a Tebow-vs-MIA type miracle to tie vanished with that 15 yard run on 3rd and 9.
For the season we have allowed conversion on 5 of 30 3rd and longs (16.7%) including penalty conversions. We have now allowed conversion on 20 of 70 3rd downs overall (28.6%) - again including penalty conversions.
Moving On
As much as I would like to blow sunshine up your butt about this team, I don’t see how we’re going to fix the QB situation this year. Trevor Siemian appears to be regressing not progressing. Paxton Lynch just started throwing again and Brock is Brock. His record in games where he has had to throw the ball 40 or more times is the same as Siemian’s, 1 win and 6 losses. There is nothing that says that the formula teams are using to stop our offense with Trevor (stop the run and force the QB to beat you with his arm) would not do just as well to stop our offense if Brock were at the helm. 3-2 could very easily turn into 3-6 regardless of who is playing QB.
The Chargers are going to be playing at home, as much as you can call the stadium where the play home to them, but then we get the Chiefs in Narrowhead, the Eagles in Philly and the P*ts in Denver. What happens during the next four games will determine the course for the rest of the season. Are the 2017 Broncos going to be another average team that fails to make the playoffs because of their inept offense or are we going to figure something out on offense and keep this from becoming another season where we waste the efforts of our defense?