BRONCOS ROUT GIANTS TO GET BACK IN WIN COLUMN

After losing four straight games, the Denver Broncos displayed  a lot of passion on Thanksgiving Day as they got back in the win column with an emphatic 26-6 home win over the New York Giants.  Denver hadn’t hosted a Thanksgiving Day game since 1963, but came out with a bang as they outgained the Giants 213-38 yards in the first half.  Broncos QB Kyle Orton threw for 245 yards and a touchdown against one interception in the win.  Denver improved to 7-4 on the season while the Giants dropped to 6-5.

The Broncos easily covered the NFL pointspread as +4’ home underdogs, breaking a four game losing streak against the money as well.  The Broncos are now 7-4 ATS on the year.  The Giants have fallen upon hard losing five of six SU and six straight against the spread for a year to date record of 5-6 ATS.  The 32 combined points scored went UNDER the posted total of 43’.  Denver has played UNDER the total in 9 of their 11 games this year, while the Giants have a NFL totals mark of 6-4-1.

New York coach Tom Coughlin explained his team’s setback in his post game press conference:

"We didn't have any tempo and we didn't make any plays. We keep talking about winning the physical battle and controlling the line of scrimmage. We thought this would be the night and it wasn't."

Giants’ QB Eli Manning said that the quality of his team’s play was more important than wins and losses:

"We can deal with being 6-5, but we need to play better football.”

Defensive end Osi Umenyiora added:  

"We're a good football team. We just played bad today. ... From here on our, every game is a must-win."

Unfortunately, the Denver victory was overshadowed by a contrived ‘media controversy’ involving an audible ‘F-bomb’ from Broncos’ coach Josh McDaniels that was clearly audible on the NFL Network’s broadcast of the game.  For his part, McDaniels seemed nonplussed that some at-home viewers may have been shocked to realize that NFL coaches occasionally use salty language:

"It's the NFL Network. Doesn't surprise me."

Despite the NFL Network offering an overwrought apology that made it sound like they’d aired a ritual human sacrifice, McDaniels stressed the importance of having a lot of emotion on a football team:

"I think when you get it channeled in the right direction it can be a positive. It sometimes can go in a wrong direction. But I'm happy that I have those guys in the locker room with us every week. I love to go to work. I love to coach them. We have a lot of fun doing what we do."

The Broncos now play the next two games on the road, heading to Kansas City next Sunday and Indianapolis the week after.  They’ll return home on December 20 to take on the Oakland Raiders.  The Giants will host the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday and the Philadelphia Eagles one week later.  They’ll play at Washington, DC against the arch rival Redskins on Monday, December 21.