The Giants and Broncos have both not lived up to preseason projections this year. That’s great news for the Broncos, as they were picked by Vegas to finish third in their division. The Giants, on the other hand, were expected to compete for a division title. The Giants and Eli Manning will try to awaken from their nightmare of a season when they travel to Colorado to face Von Miller and the Denver Broncos at 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC (live stream).

in his first season at the helm, Ben McAdoo led the Giants to an 11-5 record and a playoff berth. This year was supposed to be either a continuation or an improvement, but instead it has been a regression to far worse than the mean. The Giants’ record is 0-5 with no easy wins on the horizon. They’ve looked porous on offense this year, and they rank in the bottom third in offensive DVOA. To make matters worse, they were beset by injuries last week. Superstar wideout Odell Beckham Jr., new free agent Brandon Marshall, and Dwayne Harris all had their seasons prematurely end last week in a loss against the Chargers. Underachieving and now decimated by injury, the once-heralded receiving corps will have no chance for redemption this season.

The Broncos have been defensive stalwarts this season under new head coach Vance Joseph. They house the best rush defense in the NFL and have allowed the fewest yards of any team. On offense, the Broncos rank among the top three in rushing, led by C.J. Anderson and Jamaal Charles. The Broncos’ rushing prowess combined with their rush defense allows them to control the pace of play. This benefits the Broncos, who won’t win shootouts due to quarterback Trevor Siemian’s limitations. Since a Week 2 rout of the Cowboys, the Broncos haven’t scored more than 16 points in a single game.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
• Location: Sports Authority Field, Denver, Colo.
• TV: NBC
• Streaming: NBCSports.com
• Odds: Denver is favored by 9-12 points, depending on the book

Giants vs Broncos news

• To get a full grasp on how off the rails the Giants have veered, look at this preseason prediction vs. what is being said now.

The Giants finish 2017 with the same record as 2016, so it doesn’t look like their offseason moves have improved the team any. However, not all records are the same. There are no real “easy” games on the Giants’ schedule and they face a severe rest deficit with regards to their opponents. This is a much harder schedule than what they saw in 2016, so a similar record (or even a step back to a 10-win season) should be seen as a definite improvement.

How much worse? As I detailed earlier, the Giants have 11 games left and will probably not be favored to win any of them. That means 0-16 is undoubtedly within reach. And it’s not that hard to imagine. Since the NFL went to a 16-game schedule the Giants have never won fewer than three games. Maybe they will make a little history this time around.

• Eli Manning was struggling even with his immensely talented receivers. One wonders what he’ll be able to do without them.

Losing Odell Beckham Jr., Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris for the season, and not having Sterling Shepard for an undetermined period of time, is obviously a major blow to the Giants. It will certainly make life more difficult for quarterback Eli Manning.

• The Broncos’ offense has to return to form if they would like to make a deep playoff run.

The Broncos were able to crush Dallas. They showed in that game a killer instinct that made it look like they were ready to take the next step. Since then, they have lost to Buffalo, and struggled offensively against the Raiders. Should those struggles continue against the Giants, even in a win, it will say a lot.

• Trevor Siemian has to do more to help the Broncos convert on third down in the fourth quarter: They rank dead last in that category.

Trevor Siemian has looked good early in games, but once the fourth quarter rolls around he has looked shaky and, at times, downright awful. This has led to the Broncos ranking dead last in third down conversions in the fourth quarter. Dead Last. This needs to change and it needs to change on Sunday night. - Tim Lynch

Giants vs. Broncos prediction

Because of the trap game scenario and the fact that the Broncos have struggled to score throughout the year, this game might not be as clear-cut as it seems. The Broncos’ offense we’ve seen over the last two weeks is a more accurate representation then the one we saw over the first two weeks. With all that said, it’s hard to see how the Giants can score. New York’s top three wide receivers are out, Eli Manning is coming off a tweaked neck, and the team has quite possibly the worst offensive line in the league. This game could be decided by three points or by 30, but one thing that’s for certain is the Broncos will leave Sports Authority Field with a win.

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