On Sunday, our hometown New York Giants hosted the Denver Broncos.  The final score of 27-13 does not tell much of how the Broncos truly dominated this game.  The Broncos scored points on five of their eight possessions in the game, including the 70-yard touchdown run by Melvin Gordon that pretty much iced the game.

The Giants did have four drives inside Broncos territory, but only one of those drives yielded points.  The Giants turned over on downs at the Denver 21 and 6-yard lines, respectively.  Another play ended with an additional Daniel Jones fumble, his league-leading 40th turnover since coming into the league in 2018. 

The Giants should count themselves lucky, as Jones had at least two errant passes that could have been intercepted in the red zone.  Jones had over 19% of his passes Sunday off target.  Jones allegedly worked on “looking off” defenders on his passes, but that didn’t seem to keep the Broncos Kyle Fuller from having two passes defended. 

The offense cannot take all of the blame here, as the defense allowed the Broncos to convert almost 50% of their 3rd down conversions.  They also allowed the Broncos to go 3 for 3 on 4th downs.  The defense was able to pressure Teddy Bridgewater on 9 of his 36 dropbacks, but he was still able to scramble enough to find his open receivers consistently. 

There are two positive takeaways from Sunday for Giants fans.  The first is how good Sterling Shepard looked in this game.  Shepard led the Giants in receptions, yards, and targets.  With most of the coverage shading to Golladay, Shepard seemed to make the most of his opportunities. 

The second positive is Saquon Barkley came out of the game unscathed and with no setback.  While Saquon did not look much like his explosive self, he was in for 28 plays and had a stat line of 10 carries for 26 yards and a reception.  Saquon will look to build on this in the following weeks as he knocks off the rust. 

For week 2, the Giants visit the Washington Football Team.  This comes after Washington starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick gets sidelined for 8 weeks with a hip injury.  The defense will see Taylor Heinicke at quarterback.  Daniel Jones is undefeated against Washington with a 5-0 record against them.  

Things to look for Week 2:  Kenny Golladay did not record his first reception until the 2nd quarter against the Broncos.  Look for the Giants to get him involved early to continue to build rapport with Jones.  Chase Young did not record a sack in week 1; look for him to create more pressure with the weak Giants offensive line.

Prediction:  Washington 19 Giants 17