DENVER — The Broncos erased the Giants’ hopes of winning faster than Nik Bonitto deletes a social-media post.
Bragging rights were on the line Sunday after a week of trash talk, and a historic 33-point fourth-quarter explosion allowed the Broncos to overcome a 19-point deficit and enjoy the last laugh in a 33-32 victory against the Giants.
Bonitto — the NFL sacks leader coming into the game — stirred the pot last week by saying on X that the Giants had the “most delusional fan base.” He deleted the post — but not before Abdul Carter (No. 51) and Kayvon Thibodeaux (No. 5) took notice.
After the win — in which he was held in check (one quarterback hit) by left tackle Andrew Thomas — Bonitto was typing again.
“5 and 51 left so fast I couldn’t find em after the game,” Bonitto wrote, adding three laughing emojis and a #Delusional.
Bonitto deleted that post, too.
The Broncos’ Jonathon Cooper had started the back-and-forth by poking fun at Jaxson Dart’s touchdown dances and flashy necklace. He said Dart’s mobility was “nothing we haven’t seen before.”
After Dart’s four-touchdown game, Cooper sounded more impressed.
“I feel like things have just kind of taken out of proportion,” Cooper said. “I was giving him a compliment. He has some swag out there, but they want to turn it into something that it truly wasn’t. But you’ve got to give credit where credit due: They played a great game.”
In his response and defense of Dart, Carter had said that things “would be settled on the field.” Carter kept jawing with the Broncos during the game.
“I guess it’s settled huh?” John Franklin-Myers, a former Jet, wrote on X after the game with #BroncosWin.
Thomas — arguably the NFL’s best left tackle — was aware of Bonitto’s trash talk. Bonitto, who exclusively lines up over the left tackle, had to try other ways to impact the game by lining up opposite right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and dropping into coverage.
“I play the same regardless of what’s said online,” Thomas said. “You speak with the pads. They won the game.”
Broncos head coach Sean Payton is a former Giants offensive coordinator who remains close to ownership.
“They found a little spark with that quarterback [Dart],” Payton said. “I was talking to John Mara not too long ago, and I said, ‘We were hoping that that change would happen long after our game.’ ”
That also might be a subtle dig at Giants backup quarterback Russell Wilson, who started the first three games and had an ugly exit from Payton’s Broncos in 2023.
S Jevón Holland CB Paulson Adebo both missed most of the second half with knee injuries. It was no surprise the secondary crumbled in the fourth quarter without the two big-money free agent additions.
“Nothing structural or anything like that,” Holland said.
OLB Brian Burns’ right foot was in a walking boot after the game, but he said it is a “precaution.”
Carter, who was listed as questionable, went through a pregame workout with position coach Charlie Bullen and was declared ready.
LB Victor Dimukeje made his Giants debut as he returned from a torn pectoral muscle suffered before training camp. He had a key pass deflection when the Broncos ran a tackle-eligible play and had Garett Bolles open in the end zone.
The Giants played without WR Darius Slayton, LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, LB Swayze Bozeman, DL Chauncey Golston, C John Michael Schmitz Jr. and OG Evan Neal.
Neal was a healthy scratch for the seventh time in seven games despite the shorthandedness on the interior of the offensive line.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
