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Giants (0-1) vs Broncos
(1-0)
The Ravens knocked the Broncos out
of the playoffs last season in Denver in a thrilling double overtime
game. Baltimore continued on to play and win in the Super Bowl,
but that's old news now. Bronco fans were happy to see Peyton
Manning throw for 7 touchdowns and lead their team to a drubbing
of the Super Bowl champs 49-27 in the home opener.
The Giants played just about as poorly as a team could in their
opening game starting off with an interception on the first play.
They committed six turnovers and handed their division rival Cowboys
a 36-31 win. There were opportunities for a comeback as Eli Manning
threw four touchdown passes, but the mistakes just kept happening.
Denver
Broncos.
It's been two straight years
of exciting football in Denver. After the first five games of
2011, the Broncos were 1-4 and Tim Tebow got a chance to start
against Miami. He managed to win for the first time in the eight
games that the Broncos played on the road against the Dolphins.
The Broncos became the first team to rally from a deficit of at
least 15 points in the final three minutes since at least 1983.
Tebow won six straight games at one point and
kept things exciting with his five fourth-quarter comebacks and
three OT wins.
Finishing along with the Raiders and Chargers at 8-8, the Broncos
were 6-6 against common opponents while the others went 5-7 and
so they became the Division champs. All this was on the arm of
a quarterback who had completed just 46.5 percent of his passes.
After one more exciting game for the home fans, a 29-23 overtime
playoff win over the Steelers, you can say 'Tebowmania' officially
ended in New England with an horrific 45-10 loss.
Once Peyton Manning became available, the Broncos, finishing up
a season no better than 8-8 since 2006, decided put all their
chips on number 18. They even unretired that jersey number for
Peyton (along with the approval of Frank Tripucka, quarterback
for the Broncos first four seasons). The gamble on Manning's surgically
repaired neck paid off big time for the Broncos last season as
they finished at 13-3, sharing the best record in the NFL with
Atlanta, and moved on to the playoffs for a second straight year.
Broncos
offense.
Peyton Manning's arm strength was questioned last season as there
was a tendency for him to throw more short and intermediate passes.
Some disagree, but the Broncos made that a non issue either way.
They added free agent Wes Welker who was targeted 11 times and
had 9 of Manning's 27 completions in the opener. Welker, Julius
Thomas, and Demaryius Thomas each pulled in 2 touchdowns. The
Broncos didn't run the ball much and Manning threw 42 passes while
the running backs had just 21 carries that netted them 67 yards.
If you're going to be a one dimensional team it might as well
be these Broncos with their passing abilities, but you can't pull
a running game out of your back pocket whenever you need it and
it took a step back last year. Running back Knowshon Moreno had
the most carries and caught all 3 passes that came his way as
did Ronnie Hillman with his 2 catches. Rookie Montee Ball has
yet to develop his best pass blocking skills, and they have fumbling
concerns with Hillman carrying the ball.
Broncos
defense.
They were the third ranked
passing and rushing defense last year. In the opener they held
the Ravens to just 58 rushing yards on 21 carries, although it
probably really irked them that they gave up one rushing touchdown.
All last season that happened only 5 times and they were the top
defense in that area. They had to defend against 62 Joe Flacco
passes, and he completed 34 for 362 yards and 2 touchdowns, but
they also nailed him with 2 interceptions and 4 sacks.
The defense was tied for getting the most sacks last year with
52, but Elvis Dumervil is on another team and Von Miller, who
had 18.5 sacks, is serving a six-game suspension. The Giants catch
another break in that 12-time
Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey has been ruled out for the second
week in a row. Despite that, Chris Harris, Tony Carter, and Dominique
Rodgers-Cromartie all did just fine.
Giants offense.
The team had two fumbles, three
interceptions, and a special teams muffed punt and still lost
the game by only 5 points. Eli Manning made good use of his receivers,
but suffered in not getting much help from the ground game. David
Wilson could not be trusted and despite one 13 yard run, turned
in only 19 yards on his 7 carries before he was benched for fumbling
twice. Da'Rel Scott did have one nice run for 16 yards, but all
in all, he totaled just 23 yards on 5 carries. With Eli's additional
scrambles, the team as a whole managed a scarce 50 running yards
for the record books.
Manning was 27 of 42 for 450 yards and threw three interceptions,
two being the results of throwing screen passes to his inexperienced
running backs. The team forced themselves to bring back experienced
31 year old Brandon Jacobs, and whatever capabilities he may or
may not have. He can show if he still has it if given a chance
by bruising past that tough Denver run defense in short yardage
situations.
Manning had three 100-yard receivers with Victor Cruz pulling
in five catches for 118 yards, Hakeem Nicks five for 114 yards
and Rueben Randle five for 101 yards. Despite all the mistakes,
Manning was on the way to pulling this game out until his last
interception, a ball that bounced off the hands of Scott and was
returned 49 yards for a touchdown.
Giants defense.
This group was put through
a real workout in the opener against the Cowboys after suddenly
being called back on the field more than a few times. Overall
they held up well in last week's performance. The Broncos running
game wouldn't throw much of a scare into any team and the Giants
should be able to handle that area. Tony Romo was never comfortable
with the Giants pass pressure last week and Jason Pierre-Paul
said he didn't like his own performance. Well JPP is one week
healthier now and has had more practice time.
Still there are other issues to be dealt with. Linebacker Dan
Connor, who started last week at middle linebacker, was placed
on season-ending injured reserve. Connor was considered to be
the linebacker of choice to defend against the passing game, and
look who's coming to town. Hopefully Mark Herzlich will get some
tips on how to read Peyton's play calling from his little brother.
Cornerback Prince Amukamara suffered a concussion and missed practice
this week, but now he looks to be available. Safety Antrel Rolle
felt a soreness in his groin during practice on Thursday, but
says he's good to go.
Overall
The Broncos are riding high after last's week's 'payback-win'
over the defending Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens, and they
have even had a few extra days to prepare for the Giants. Right
now the Broncos seem like a team that has it all together while
the Giants certainly haven't inspired confidence. We've all seen
matchups like these before in the NFL and also have seen what
can happen. Peyton Manning himself has seen a number of 'unbeatable
teams' go up against his little brother's team and what the results
have been.
The last time the Giants were forced to make sudden changes like
they did this past week with Brandon Jacobs, it turned into a
good thing. Chase Blackburn was there for the taking, just as
Jacobs was, ready to be picked up, dusted off, and thrown into
the fray. Hopefully the results will be just as good. At least
the defense won't be on the sidelines gulping their cokes down
in a hurry when they see Jacobs carrying the ball instead of David
Wilson. This is just another wrinkle on a game that will be remembered
as Manning Bowl III.
NFC East
All the other teams in the division
will play their games on Sunday at 1pm. The Cowboys (1-0) play
at Kansas City against the Chiefs (1-0), the Redskins (0-1) play
at Green Bay against the Packers (0-1), and the Eagles (1-0) will
host the Chargers (0-1). The Eagles are the only team in the NFC
East favored to win their game.
Check out.
The Team
Giants Store, and see some of the really unique items we put
together.
There are some items you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and
each sale helps out our site.
Giants DVDs
and Posters.
TeamGiants on Twitter.Notes.
Giants Brandon Jacobs has played
100 regular-season games for the Giants, rushing for 56 touchdowns.
Giants have won the last 3 home games
against the Broncos, last time was in 2005.
Broncos Peyton Manning was the NFL
Comeback Player of the Year.
Broncos Peyton Manning is the only
player to have three games with 6 passing touchdowns.
Broncos Peyton Manning is the sixth
QB in NFL history to throw 7 touchdown passes in a game.
Last time was on Sept. 28, 1969 by Joe Kapp with the Minnesota
Vikings against the Baltimore Colts.
Broncos Peyton Manning and Y.A. Tittle
are the only quarterbacks to have throw 7 touchdowns in a game
without an interception.
Broncos Peyton Manning has won the
two previous meetings against Eli Manning and the Giants.
Next Games
Sept 22 - Giants at Panthers
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
Sept 29 - Giants at
Chiefs.
Giants Tickets - Buy
or Sell
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