Giants allow 33 points in fourth quarter as Broncos pull off epic comeback
Jaxson Dart of the Giants walks off the field after his team's 33-32 loss against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High on Sunday in Denver. Credit: Getty Images/Justin Edmonds
DENVER — Abdul Carter said it best Friday in response to Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper taking shots at Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart: Everything will be settled Sunday.
For three quarters, the Giants looked as if they would get the last laugh, taking a 19-point lead. Then the Broncos had the final say with an epic comeback for a 33-32 win on Will Lutz’s 39-yard field goal as time expired.
The Broncos’ 33 fourth-quarter points were the most in the final period by any team that had been shut out in the first three quarters in NFL history.
“It’s a tough way to lose,” coach Brian Daboll said. “It went down to the end, 60 minutes, they made one more play than we did. Lot of plays that could’ve changed the outcome of that game. Not just one.”
The Giants led 19-0 after three quarters, and even after the Broncos went ahead, Jaxson Dart’s 1-yard touchdown run with 37 seconds left produced a 32-30 lead. But Jude McAtamney missed his second extra point of the game.
Denver (5-2) got the ball with 33 seconds left, and Bo Nix completed a 29-yard pass to Marvin Mims and a 22-yard pass to Courtland Sutton to move the Broncos into field-goal range at the Giants’ 21-yard line with three seconds left. Nix spiked the ball to set up the winner.
The Giants (2-5) have lost nine consecutive road games and Dart remained winless on the road as a starter.
The Giants took a 26-8 lead with 10:14 left on an incredible bounce of luck. Dart’s pass to Wan’Dale Robinson ricocheted off his hands and toward Theo Johnson, who raced to the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown.
It came after the Broncos had their own lucky deflection, a 2-yard touchdown pass to Troy Franklin 52 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Some fans left for the exits and missed a furious rally in which the Broncos scored on every remaining possession.
They cut it to 26-16 on Nix’s 7-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion pass to Franklin with 5:13 left.
The Broncos needed a big play on defense. They got it, as Dart — facing pressure on third down — threw an interception to Justin Strnad, who returned it 21 yards to the Giants’ 19.
“My feet got stuck in the ground. I gotta be way better than that. That [expletive] is unacceptable,” Dart said.
Nix threw a 2-yard TD pass to RJ Harvey with 3:51 left, and the kick made it 26-23. After the Giants punted, Nix ran 18 yards for a touchdown and Denver went ahead 30-26 with 1:51 left.
Then Dart took over.
On fourth-and-19, he connected with Robinson for 19 yards, and a roughing-the-passer penalty added 15 yards.
Three plays later, Beaux Collins drew a pass-interference penalty in the end zone. Broncos coach Sean Payton rushed the field and was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The Giants had the ball on the 1-yard line, and Dart finished the drive with a plunge into the end zone.
“I never felt like we were gonna lose the game,” said Dart, who shouted on the sideline after his go-ahead score. “I looked at the clock when they scored. A lot of time left and I had no doubt that we were gonna go down there and score.”
Dart was 15-for-33 for 283 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs for the rookie. The Giants were 6-for-15 on third down against the league’s top-ranked third-down defense.
But the defense, which played excellent football for three quarters, let them down. With cornerback Paulsen Adebo and Jevon Holland exiting the game with knee injuries, the Giants couldn’t get the Broncos off the field in the fourth quarter.
Brian Burns had two sacks in the first half, giving him nine for the season and matching his total from last season. Yet the Giants went from holding the Broncos in check to allowing them to rack up 227 yards in the fourth quarter alone.
“They caught a little rhythm there, tried to exploit some stuff that we were doing,” linebacker Bobby Okereke said. “They just executed better than us in critical situations.”
For the first time in four games under Dart, the Giants didn’t score an opening-drive touchdown. Their first score came on their third drive as Dart found a wide-open Daniel Bellinger for a 44-yard touchdown. It was the tight end’s first score since his rookie year in 2022 and the longest completion of Dart’s career.
Two drives later, Dart connected with Cam Skattebo for a 13-yard touchdown.
In the third quarter, Tyrone Tracy Jr. scored on a 31-yard run in which he wasn’t touched. He jogged the final 15 yards while looking around surprised he was that wide open.
The lead was 19-0. But instead of a cushion, it became a foothold for the Broncos’ epic comeback and the Giants’ crushing defeat.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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