DENVER _ Oh? No. No longer.
The Giants knocked the zero off the front of their record in shocking fashion Sunday night, rallying a depleted team that was missing eight starters scattered on both sides of the ball and seemed to be spinning in turmoil to a 23-10 win over the Broncos at Sports Authority Stadium at Mile High.
It was a game that Ben McAdoo framed as an us-against-the-world situation for his team, which came in as a 12-point underdog, challenging them to step up and prove to everyone during a prime-time game that they are still a good team despite lacking their best playmakers and despite their winless record heading in.
The team responded with their best performance of the season, slamming the brakes on their five-game losing streak before it could match the 0-6 start of 2013 and righting the course, at least for a brief moment of triumph. The Giants are still 1-5, still in last place in the NFC East, and still a colossal disappointment considering their championship aspirations.
But they won.
They even had a dramatic defensive stand in the fourth. Denver, trailing 20-3, had one last gasp at a comeback after a 37-yard pass interference penalty against Janoris Jenkins, but the Giants kept it out of the end zone on four successive plays. On third-and-goal from the 5, Ross Cockrell made a tackle on Bennie Fowler III. Then, on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, Jason Pierre-Paul made initial contact on C.J. Anderson before Landon Collins pushed him backward for the turnover on downs with 8:23 left. Denver added a touchdown with 4:07 left to make it 20-10, but Roger Lewis Jr. fielded the onside kick.
McAdoo, who had been under outside criticism all week for his handling of the Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie suspension, executed what may be the defining decision of his tenure with this team. He ceded the play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan. The result was significant, and it came against the NFL's top defense.
This was how it was drawn up in the offseason, what the Giants' year was supposed to look like, relying on a steady offense and a blanketing defense. Some, naturally, will ask: What took so long?
For the first time this season, though, there is a glimmer of positivity.
The Giants' defense, meanwhile, made the Broncos' offense look as disjointed and predictable as the Giants' usually is. The Giants sacked Trevor Siemian four times and added their first points of the season on one of their three takeaways.
Aldrick Rosas kicked a 51-yard field goal with 8:08 left in the third quarter to give the Giants a 20-3 lead. After the teams swapped blocked field goals, the Broncos completed a pass to Demaryius Thomas on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Jenkins pried the ball out and Eli Apple recovered it.
Earlier in the game Jenkins stepped in front of a pass for an interception and returned it 43 yards for the Giants' first defensive TD of the season. It made it 17-3 and capped a half in which the Giants looked about as confident and competent on offense as they had all season, despite the loss of their top three wide receivers to injury. The Giants worked around that situation by running just three plays in the half that targeted a receiver and completing just one pass.
The Giants seemed poised to add to that advantage when Landon Collins picked off a pass on the ensuing possession, but the Giants had a three-and-out and the Broncos kicked a field goal. The Giants finished the second half with a three-and-out and a 10-3 lead with 2:32 left, giving the Broncos another chance. But Jenkins' INT spun that thinking _ like all football logic in this particular game _ on its head.
