The Denver Broncos went on the road and defeated the New York Giants 27-13 in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season on Sunday afternoon.
Denver’s offense had a few hiccups to begin the game before later finding a rhythm.
After driving down to New York’s five-yard line on their second drive, Denver’s offense stalled and had to settle for a field goal. On the Broncos’ following drive, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam fumbled on the Giants’ four-yard line and New York recovered.
Denver’s offense finally scored a touchdown on their next drive when quarterback Teddy Bridgewater connected with wide receiver Tim Patrick on a two-yard touchdown pass to give the Broncos a 10-7 lead at halftime.
In the second half, “Albert O” made up for his earlier fumble by securing a four-yard touchdown catch on fourth down — Denver converted three fourth down attempts in the game.
Later, running back Melvin Gordon sealed the game with a 70-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
The win was marred midway through the third quarter when wide receiver Jerry Jeudy went down with a gruesome injury that the team described as a “lower leg” injury. Jeudy was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
On defense, the Broncos were happy to welcome back outside linebacker Von Miller, who quickly made a big impact. On the Giants’ opening drive, Miller had a tackle behind the line of scrimmage on third down that forced a punt. On the following series, Miller had a sack on third down to force another punt.
Miller finished the game with three tackles and two sacks. Overall, Denver’s defense had a pair of fourth down stops, two sacks and just two touchdowns allowed.
Up next for the Broncos is a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2. The Jaguars lost to the Houston Texans 37-21 on Sunday.
