抖阴ap

Following four days of respite, Broncos coach returned to Dove Valley last week seeking more. He wanted more effort, more focus, more detail and more commitment from his team.

鈥淕reat football teams take it upon themselves to play great no matter who they’re playing,鈥� general manager corroborated. 鈥淭hey don’t hold their standards up to who they’re playing, but they hold their standards up to the expectations they have in their football team.”

One team heeded their calls Sunday.

But it wasn鈥檛 the Broncos.

In stunning showing, the heavily favored Broncos were drubbed by the depleted New York Giants, 23-10, at home Sunday night and lost a pair of receivers to injury in the process. The Broncos were battered and bruised and dropped to 3-2 while New York picked up its first victory.

Denver lost receiver and returner Isaiah McKenzie to ankle injuries, and quarterback missed a series with what is said to be a left shoulder sprain, following his second interception of the night. Siemian was replaced by for the final seconds of the first half, but he returned to play the second half and isn’t expected to miss time.

“We had a great week of preparation, starting on Monday. Wednesday was our best Wednesday of the year,” Joseph said. “Obviously the start wasn’t what we wanted on both sides of the ball, really. Even defensively. … We had issues in the run and pass game. Absolutely our start was not what I tought it was going to be.”

Though the numbers were deceiving, Siemian finished 29-of-50 passing for 376 yards and threw the two interceptions, including the game-changing pick six by Janoris Jenkins near the end of the first half that extended New York’s lead to 17-3. Siemian was also sacked four times.

“When you have three turnovers, it’s hard to say he played well,” Joseph said of Siemian. “But obviously after watching the film I’ll know more tomorrow. But turnovers are always tied to the quarterback and that’s the key. … I would say with three turnovers, probably not good.”

Siemian’s 50 attempts were tied for the second-most in his career. In his seven career games in which he’s thrown 40 or more passes, the Broncos have gone 1-6.

Giants’ quarterback , meanwhile, who was without many of his core weapons on offense, turned to speedy rookie tight end Evan Engram and relied on outside run plays to pick apart the Broncos鈥� league-leading rushing defense. Manning completed 11 of 19 passes for 128 yards, a touchdown and a 95.9 passer rating.

The Giants were without four of their top receivers, their top returner, their starting center and running back, and a defensive captain. But New York was the better team from the start, jumping to a 3-0 lead in becoming the first Broncos opponent this season to score on their opening drive.

“I knew it was going to be a tough out,” Joseph said. “That defense is a really good defense, so that was my concern. Obviously, with their injuries coming in offensively, we knew that we were going to work 84 (Engram) and 34 (running back Shane Vareen) more. We had a plan to defend 84, but it didn’t work. And that’s on me.”

In the first four weeks, the Broncos amassed 27 points in the first quarter, fourth-most in the league. But Sunday night they could muster only a pair of three-and-outs and a missed 38-yard field goal attempt by kicker , who also had a 53-yard attempt blocked in the third quarter. McManus was signed to a contract extension before the start of the season but has missed five of his 13 field-goal attempts.

鈥淜icking is a rhythm thing, but our rhythm isn鈥檛 off,” McManus said. “It抖阴ap still very fluid in what we do. Like I said, I haven鈥檛 missed a kick in practice or warmups this season. It抖阴ap just the games, and right now in the games I stink.鈥�

The Giants dominated all three phases: the Broncos’ offense sputtered and appeared to have miscommunication issues on the line, the defense was gouged for big plays and special teams had a muffed punt to go with McManus’ pair of misses.

New York gashed the Broncos on a 47-yard gain by running back Orleans Darkwa to set up Manning鈥檚 five-yard touchdown pass to Engram in the second quarter. Engram finished with five catches for 82 yards, and Darkwa added 116 on the ground. The Denver defense that had allowed only 50.8 rushing yards per game through the first four weeks surrendered 148 Sunday. And Denver鈥檚 run game that averaged 143 yards per game? It recorded only 46.

“That was a great game plan,” Broncos cornerback Chris Harris said. “They just kept the ball away. But the way their defense played really affected how we played them. If we would have scored and got up on them, they would have to throw the ball more, but with us not scoring, they could just play safe like that. … You can’t really change the game when they don’t have to throw the ball and just run and be safe and trust the defense.”

Siemian, who was off-kilter from the opening whistle, threw two interceptions in the span of about eight minutes in the second quarter, the last of which was returned for a touchdown by Jenkins. After the play, trainers immediately examined Siemian’s left shoulder, which was surgically repaired in January. Siemian returned for the start of the second half and played the remainder of the game.

“I tried tackling the guy and that’s certainly not my specialty,” Siemian said. “I’m fine. A little sore, but I’m fine.”

Right tackle Menelik Watson, however, did not return. He injured his calf shortly before the pick and was ruled out for the second half.

The Giants continued to pound the Broncos until the final seconds. Siemian was sacked two more times in the second half, Sanders was carted off and — just for good measure — the Broncos fumbled at the start of the fourth quarter.

But it got even worse.

McKenzie left the field in tears after suffering an ankle injury on a deep pass play, one that appeared similar to Sanders鈥�. Neither McKenzie nor Sanders returned, and though initial X-rays for both were negative, they will undergo MRIs on Monday morning.

“Isaiah’s been coming along. We’ve been working him in more. So that would stink,” Siemian said. “I don’t want to speculate on any of that, but he’s done a really good job of picking up things. … And Emmanuel, obviously, we know how good he is. That would be unfortunate, but at the same time, all those other guys — Bennie (Fowler), Jordan Taylor — keep stepping up when they get their chances. It’s next man up.”

In their absence, Denver managed to find the end zone for the first time late in the fourth quarter, on a touchdown catch by tight end . But it was far too little too late.

After a week of emphasizing red-zone efficiency and the elimination of critical errors, of talking about defensive improvement and attention to detail, of the need to start strong and finish stronger, the Broncos’ issues were compounded Sunday night. And their injury list grew.

When Joseph wanted more, he got less. And when Elway sought high standards, the Broncos played well below their goals as they get ready to embark on a three-game road stretch.

“We just got our butt kicked tonight,” running back C.J. Anderson said. “I don’t know what else to say. It’s plain and simple. It was bad execution and bad football. It’s on us. The good thing is, we know it’s on us and it can be corrected.”