Giants get carved up in Denver, 26-6
Photo credit: AP | New York Giants running back Danny Ware, bottom, fumbles while being tackled by Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey during the second quarter of an NFL football game in Denver, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2009. Denver recovered the fumble. (AP Photo/ David Zalubowski)
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Week 12: Broncos 26, Giants 6
DENVER - It's getting to be difficult to tell if the Giants are just helplessly optimistic or hopelessly oblivious.
Even after their 26-6 loss to the Broncos last night, a game in which hardly anything went right for them, they continue to maintain that they are a better football team than the one they showed to a national audience on this occasion or the one they have been for the better part of two months as they've sunk from 5-0 to 6-5.
Asked if he still believes in his team, Justin Tuck said he does - if for no other reason than the frightening alternative.
"What would you expect me to do, put my head between my tail and cry myself to sleep tonight?" he asked. "I still believe in this team. Definitely. I wouldn't care if we were 0-11 right now, I would still have faith in this team."
Still, it was another game in which the Giants simply failed to show up, and even Tuck admitted that something is missing from their efforts. Something that he gulped might even be in the middle of their chests.
"I dare say heart, and it kind of looked that way," he said of the absent ingredient, "but I'm not going to say that because I don't believe it."
The Giants are making believers of the rest of the country, and it's not the same set of beliefs. Even though this loss was against an AFC team and does not completely destroy their playoff aspirations, they looked nothing like a playoff contender, joining the lowly Lions and Raiders as maddeningly unwatchable football teams on a day stuffed with the sport.
It was the Giants' fifth loss in six games and came only four days after it appeared that things were looking up for them after an overtime win over the Falcons.
It was the first time this season the Giants did not reach the end zone. Their six points were their fewest in the regular season since a 27-6 loss to the Eagles on Nov. 28, 2004, Eli Manning's second career start. They had only 154 yards of offense when the Broncos kicked a field goal to make it 26-6 with 5:02 remaining, icing the game after a sack and fumble by Manning. The Giants finished with a meaningless 267 after a late 84-yard drive from their 7 to the Broncos' 9.
The loss dropped the Giants two games behind the Cowboys, who won earlier in the day, in the NFC East race. They play the Cowboys in 10 days at Giants Stadium, essentially their last gasp at remaining relevant this season.
"We gave the game away, basically," said Brandon Jacobs, who rushed for 27 yards on 11 carries. "We went out and we didn't play hard. We didn't play hard and they took it."
Right from the start, as the first half was an abomination for the Giants. While the defense allowed 16 points and missed almost that many tackles, the offense managed only 38 yards of offense. Yes, 38. Nine of them were passing yards. Their previous low for yardage in a first half this year was 141 against the Saints.
The Broncos (7-4) already led 6-0 when the Giants' D.J. Ware took a handoff and had the ball stripped away after an 8-yard run (which, sadly, was the longest run of the half). It was only the second lost fumble of the season by a Giants running back or receiver. Mario Haggan forced the fumble and Brian Dawkins recovered it for the Broncos.
That set up a short field, and the Broncos did not settle for three as they had on their previous two possessions. After Brandon Marshall made an amazing one-handed grab at the 10, reaching up and plucking a pass from the sky, Knowshon Moreno ran it in from the 1 on third-and-goal for a 13-0 lead.
The Broncos added a field goal later in the second quarter for the 16-0 advantage. It was the eighth score in the last nine possessions the Giants' defense had faced, including their win over Atlanta.
When the Giants finally found a crumb of momentum early in the third quarter, it resulted in only a field goal. Terrell Thomas intercepted Kyle Orton to give the Giants their best starting position of the game at their own 40, but they could get only to the 21, and Lawrence Tynes connected on a 39-yard field goal to make it 16-3 with 7:55 left in the second quarter. It was, however, a drive that went 39 yards - or one more than they had in the entire first half.
The Giants settled for a 52-yard field goal on their next possession to make it 16-6 with 31 seconds left in the third, and that was the last of their scoring.
"To be honest with you, I don't know what was going on out there," Osi Umenyiora said. "We just didn't play good football at all."
