Denver Broncos end month of misery with 26-6 rout of New York Giants

Broncos end four-game skid with win over Giants

DENVER — Four weeks after getting ripped for taunting opponents during warmups, Denver coach Josh McDaniels was caught on TV cursing at his bumbling Broncos.

This time, he was the object of an apology from the NFL Network instead of league-wide criticism for jawing with San Diego’s linebackers. Oh, and the Broncos finally won a game again, beating the New York Giants 26-6 on Thursday night.

McDaniels is an emotional coach who stocked his roster with passionate players, and that was on full display Thanksgiving night in the Broncos’ R-rated win that sent the Giants to their fifth loss in six games.

Brian Dawkins’ inspired play led a Denver defensive revival and the offense did its part by controlling the clock in a win that snapped a four-game losing streak.

The NFL Network accidentally aired a clip of McDaniels cursing at his players after they committed three false starts and dropped a pass in a five-play sequence in the first half that really got his blood boiling.

“No — not our coach!” tight end Tony Scheffler retorted in mock surprise.

While the Broncos (7-4) still aren’t effective enough in the red zone and draw too many yellow flags for McDaniels’ taste, their month of misery is over.

Kyle Orton drove them on six scoring drives, Matt Prater kicked four field goals and Dawkins led a ferocious defense 48 hours after calling a players-only meeting that obviously struck a chord.

Elvis Dumervil dumped Eli Manning twice, extending his NFL-leading sack total to 14, and his second one resulted in a fourth-quarter fumble that sealed Denver’s first win since Oct. 19.

“Defense is all about emotion, wanting to get the ball,” Dumervil said.

So is offense, suggested Brandon Marshall, who made two incredible one-handed catches, one on each sideline. He even had a celebration planned with rookie Knowshon Moreno, with whom he got into a sideline spat last week.

But Moreno’s 1-yard TD run came with Marshall on the sideline, so the fake fight they had planned was shelved.

“We were going to run at each other, push each other,” Marshall said. “That was a serious celebration so hopefully we wouldn’t get fined for that. But maybe we’ll do it next week.”

It won’t be a surprise then, and the officials will be ready with their hands on their handkerchiefs.

“Well, maybe we’ll come up with something different,” Marshall said. “Maybe we’ll kiss or something.”

Hosting their first Thanksgiving game since 1963 in the AFL, the Broncos returned to the physical style of play that marked their 6-0 start.

Behind three takeaways, the Broncos halted their freefall and pulled within a half game of AFC West leader San Diego. New York (6-5), which snapped its four-game losing streak on Sunday, fell two games behind Dallas, which beat Oakland earlier Thursday, in the NFC East.

“We didn’t have any tempo and we didn’t make any plays,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. “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.”

The Giants have lost five of six since their 5-0 start.

“We’re a good football team,” Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora said. “We just played bad today.”

The Broncos outgained the Giants 213-38 in the first half but settled for field goals on three drives, including their first two trips inside the Giants 10-yard line as they continued their red zone struggles.

That led to the NFL Network’s embarrassing mistake.

Their second trip inside the Giants 10-yard line turned into a game of flag football as tight end Daniel Graham, left tackle Ryan Clady and center Casey Wiegmann all were whistled for false starts, and the Broncos sent out Prater for a second straight chip-shot field goal, this one making it 6-0.

Coming out of a commercial break, the NFL Network showed a clip of McDaniels yelling at his players on the sideline saying, “All we’re trying to do is win a (expletive) game!”

The vulgarity was clearly audible to viewers, and announcer Bob Papa immediately apologized on air.

NOTES: The Giants trailed 16-0 at halftime, the first time they took a goose egg into the locker room since Jan. 8, 2006, in a wild-card playoff game against Carolina. … Moreno ran for 88 yards on 19 carries and would have had 34 more yards were it not for two holding calls against Graham.