DENVER – The Giants left Mile High City in the dumps after a perennial slump.
Perfectly positioned for a season-changing victory, the Giants went from a 45-minute shutout Sunday to allowing four touchdowns in the fourth quarter, blowing a 19-point lead in the final six minutes and squandering their own improbable comeback in a 33-32 loss to the Broncos.
How is it that Jaxon Dart’s 283-yard passing performance, four-touchdown performance, Theo Johnson’s improbable touchdown run and a defensive performance littered with big hits and forced punts was wasted by allowing 33 fourth-quarter points and a field goal?
The collapse started innocently and ended in a horror show.
The Giants had their entire lead restored when the Broncos took a 30-26 lead with 1:51 to play.
No problem for Dart, who completed a fourth-and-19 pass that included a 15-yard tacking penalty. He finished the drive with a quarterback sneak that should have saved the Giants from devastation if the defense could have held on for 37 seconds.
But Jude McAtamney missed his second PAT, opening the door for what every Giants fan knew would follow: a four-play, 56-yard drive that included a big catch allowed by Deonte Banks and ended with a 39-yard field goal by Will Lutz.
It took a circus catch on a Troy Franklin deflection in the back of the end zone for the Broncos to cut their deficit from early in the fourth quarter to 19-8. It seemed like it wouldn’t matter when the Giants tied it with a lucky touchdown of their own – a 41-yarder from Johnson.
But disaster could not be avoided.
The Broncos needed just over five minutes and 13 plays to drive 80 yards and eight more points to make the score 26-15.
All the Giants had to do was not capitalize on the momentum, but rookie quarterbacks ride the roller coaster, as head coach Brian Daboll likes to say. Especially those with a talent for magic like Dart.
Facing third-and-5 from the 35-yard line with less than five minutes remaining, the Giants elected not to run, forcing the Broncos to use their final timeout and punt.
Under duress, with the ball in his hands, Dart tried to force a throw up the middle rather than accept an incompletion or a sack, and Justin Strnad made the interception. The Broncos quickly scored another touchdown to make the score 26-23 and the fans who didn’t leave Empower Field early were ecstatic.
Daboll trusted Dart again on a third down and he threw a miss.
Once the Broncos converted a third-and-11 to cross midfield, the next touchdown seemed inevitable. Sure enough, Bo Nix ran 18 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:51 left.
None of this makes sense when you look at the way the Giants dominated the first three quarters.
Not if you saw the offensive line getting around one of the best defenses in the NFL, the defense coming up with big hits that would make their 1980s predecessors proud and Dart and Skattebo continuing the rookie magic.
Nothing seemed impossible if the Giants (2-5) wanted to follow up their victories against the Chargers and the Eagles by beating the Broncos on the road.
The Giants scored touchdowns from 44, 41, 31 and 13 yards, and Dart found three different targets (Daniel Bellinger, Skattebo and Theo Johnson) for touchdowns to make it look like he wasn’t handcuffed by an injury-plagued receiving corps.
Dart’s off-script play was one of two main ingredients — along with two Broncos penalties — in the game’s first touchdown.
The rookie rushed around the pocket and made a crossover throw over the middle that just cleared a defender and reached 5-foot-8 receiver Robinson for a 23-yard gain. He then bought enough time to find a wide-open Bellinger for a 44-yard touchdown pass.
Poise was Dart’s biggest asset on his second touchdown pass.
Dart looked at defenders long enough to allow a screen pass on third-and-11 from the 13-yard line to develop. Guards Greg Van Roten and Jon Runyan Jr. came up at the second level to throw blocks for Skattebo looking for contact, who crossed the goal line and then ducked his head anyway for a collision.
The Broncos punted on each of their first four possessions as their offense seemed intent on trying short, level routes that allowed the Giants to steal. In fact, Bo Nix didn’t take his offense to midfield until less than eight minutes remained in the first half.
The defense didn’t just post a three-quarter shutout. They were executioners.
Bobby Okereke, Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Dru Phillips and Darius Muasau all had hits in the first half, but none were as big as Dane Belton’s to cap off a goal-line stand. Belton was only in the game for the injured Jevon Holland (knee).
Facing second-and-goal from the 2-yard line, head coach and play-caller Sean Payton got too smart for his own good. A second pass was deflected by Victor Dimukeje, a third-down rollout took out half of the field for Nix as he came up with an incompletion and a fourth-down receiver screen to Courtland Sutton failed because Belton charged with a hitting stick.
A 13-play, 64-yard drive did nothing to reduce the 13-0 halftime deficit.
Burns led the NFL with two sacks in the first half, including one on the final play when Payton had just surrendered after running out of time. The home crowd booed the Broncos (4-3) off the field.
But there were so many cheers at the end.
