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Storylines to follow in Giants vs. Broncos

DART-NIX-STORYLINES

The Giants will travel out west to face the Broncos in Week 7.

Brian Daboll's squad is coming off a mini-bye following their divisional victory over the Eagles on Thursday Night Football. They will now look to win consecutive games for the first time since 2023.

The Broncos have won three consecutive games themselves with victories over the Bengals, Eagles and Jets after beginning the season 1-2. Following their Week 5 victory in Philadelphia, the Broncos immediately flew overseas to England, where they stayed the week before beating the Jets at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this past Sunday.

Here are storylines to follow in the Week 7 matchup.

'Got to play good team football'

As we all know, the NFL is a week-to-week league. And despite their big win in primetime, the Giants are faced with a daunting task this weekend as they prepare for the Broncos and their elite defense at Empower Field at Mile High.

"You've got to play good team football all the way around," Daboll said Wednesday. "Defense has to complement the offense and special teams. This is a team that's 4-2 for a reason. Everybody's got to do their job, whether it's the quarterback, whether it's the interior part of the pocket, whether it's receivers getting open against tight press coverage against some really good corners. It's going to take a total team effort."

Flying across the country and picking up an interconference win is never an easy feat. Doing so at Mile High is especially difficult. The Broncos have won their only two home games this season, and are 8-2 in their last 10 outings there. Between Denver's high altitude, which can sometimes make it a little more difficult to breath, and the home crowd at Mile High, not to mention the high-level of talent the Broncos have on their roster, Sunday's game might be the biggest challenge yet for this young Giants squad.

"They're well-coached," Daboll said about Sean Payton's team. "They've got a lot of good players. They put you in bad situations; it's hard. Then you're on the road with a loud environment, you're going to have to play good team football all the way around."

See the top photos from practice as the Giants prepare for their Week 7 matchup against the Broncos.

Next test for new-look Giants offense

The Giants' offense received a jolt a couple weeks back with the insertion of both quarterback Jaxson Dart and running back Cam Skattebo into the starting lineup. Over the last three outings, the unit has averaged 23 points and 156.3 rushing yards per game, well above the team's averages of 17.3 points and 96 rushing yards per game through the first three weeks of the season.

"I would just say that they're very competitive individuals who have a lot of pride, toughness and belief in themselves, and I think that's important for any team when you have players like that," Daboll said about Dart and Skattebo last Friday. "I know they're two rookies. We have a number of other rookies I feel are in a similar situation relative to how they compete and what they do to prepare and how they go out and play. Those two guys, they care about their teammates, they prepare very diligently, and I trust them a lot out on the field."

The two rookies, along with the rest of the offense, will face their toughest challenge yet in Denver this weekend. The Broncos enter Week 7 with the league's No. 2 defense in both points and yards allowed. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's unit is well-balanced as they rank among the best against both the run and pass. Not only that, but the Broncos also lead the NFL in the percentage of plays a defense gets a pressure, tackle for loss, forced fumble, interception or pass breakup, otherwise known as a team's "havoc rate," at 44.8 percent. Their league-leading 30 sacks, 10 more than any other team, certainly help, led by outside linebacker Nik Bonitto's league-high eight sacks.

"Vance Joseph is really coaching incredible football right now," Daboll said. "Pressuring the quarterback, first in the red zone, first and third down, can play a variety of things. There are a lot of really good players. One of the best defenses in the league, coached well, and tough to block. Just held a team to under 90 yards of offense. So, tremendous challenge with that defense."

Stepping up in key situations

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Vance Joseph's defense is the unit's ability to step up in key situations. Given the Broncos' overall success on defense this season, it should not come as much of a surprise that the unit has allowed a conversion on just 27.2 percent of third down attempts and 20.0 percent of fourth down attempts, both of which lead the NFL.

"They're impressive," Daboll said. "They're impressive every game. They create a lot of negative plays. They have 30 sacks in six games. There were nine last week, I think. They rotate guys. But (Nik) Bonitto is an unbelievable pass rusher. You can't have a plan for all of them. They all can rush. I think 12 guys have at least a sack on their defense. We've got the reigning defensive player of the year, as a corner, (Pat) Surtain II, an Alabama guy. They're just really good. They play good coverage, complemented with the front. They disguise well. They're as good as it gets right now."

But the most imposing stat of all is the Broncos red zone defense. Denver has allowed opponents to score a touchdown on just four of 14 trips inside the 20-yard line, giving them a 28.6 percent red zone defense. To put that into perspective, the next best mark is the Los Angeles Chargers at 42.9 percent.

The Giants' red zone offense currently ranks 30th in the league with nine of their 22 trips inside the 20-yard line (40.9 percent) resulting in touchdowns. However, the unit took a step in the right direction last week as they went three-for-three in the red zone against the Eagles.

Getting pressure on Nix

While a lot of the attention is being put on the defense, the Broncos' offense has for the most part performed well in 2025. The unit scored just 13 points in last week's win over the Jets, but it was their first time failing to reach the 20-point mark this season, as they averaged 23.4 points per game through the first five weeks. Denver has found more success on the ground than through the air, with veteran running back J.K. Dobbins averaging just under 5.0 yards per carry on the year on his way to 442 yards and four touchdowns.

The Broncos' offense is led by second-year quarterback Bo Nix, who caught fire in the second half of his rookie campaign. Nix threw 21 touchdown passes between Weeks 10 and 18 after totaling just eight in his first nine games. Through six games this season, the 25-year-old quarterback has completed 64.6 percent of his passes for 1,277 yards, nine touchdowns and four interceptions, good for a passer rating of 88.2.

Nix's numbers look very different when the opposing defense gets in his face, though. On plays that he's pressured, Nix has completed only 21 of 43 attempts for 186 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for a 49.2 passer rating (versus a 98.5 passer rating on his 163 attempts when not pressured). According to Next Gen Stats, Brian Burns led the team with three quarterback pressures of Jalen Hurts last week, two of which resulted in sacks, giving him seven on the season (third in the NFL). Burns might have his toughest matchup of the season this weekend, though, as he will face off against Broncos left tackle Garett Bowles. Through six games, Bowels has yet to surrender a sack and has allowed a total of just five pressures.

Injury updates

The Giants took on the Eagles last week without two of the team's top three wide receivers. Malik Nabers is done for the season after tearing his ACL in Week 4, but the status of Darius Slayton, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury, is still up in the air. Daboll told the media that Slayton is "getting better," but the veteran "might be off to the side" during Wednesday's practice.

"We'll see where Slay's at," Daboll said.

Starting center John Michael Schmitz Jr. left last week's game after suffering a concussion. Schmitz is still in concussion protocol as of Wednesday, which led to Austin Schlottmann taking the starting reps at practice.

"Confident in all the guys we have," the head coach said before practice. "That's why they're here. He did what he needed to do, which was to come in and operate at the center for us. He did a nice job. He'll get all the reps today."

Linebackers Swayze Bozeman (ankle) and Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles (hamstring) also did not practice Wednesday. However, the linebackers did get some reinforcements with the return of Victor Dimukeje. The veteran outside linebacker signed with the Giants in free agency after playing his first four seasons with the Cardinals. Dimukeje suffered a pectoral injury during the offseason workout program, which led to his eventual placement on the reserve/physically unable to perform list at the end of training camp.

View rare photos of the history between the New York Giants and Denver Broncos.

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