Broncos coach Vic Fangio’s aggressive offensive approach pays off in opening-day win over Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — As his players were celebrating on the field and flipping gloves, wrist-bands and hats to fans, Broncos coach Vic Fangio jogged up the tunnel to the locker room moments after Sunday’s thorough 27-13 win over the New York Giants.

Once by himself, Fangio may have had a simple reaction: Whew.

His September losing streak? Ended.

His choice of Teddy Bridgewater to start at quarterback? Validated.

And his decision to play his starters in the preseason to facilitate a crisp opening game? Justified.

Over the course of two hours, 53 minutes, Fangio enjoyed his best day as the Broncos’ big whistle.

No longer can he be asked if the Broncos can avoid the woeful starts of 2019 (0-4) and ’20 (0-3). Period.

“Obviously, facts are facts and we’ve had bad starts here the last two years record-wise,” Fangio said. “To get off to a 1-0 start … it speaks volumes about the team we have and what we can possibly do moving forward.”

Had the Broncos lost to the Giants as a road favorite, Fangio knew the deal.

“(Bad starts) would have been the story all week,” he said. “Now you guys have to throw away those stories and write a new one.”

Consider that storyline trashed, Vic.

Here’s the new narrative: The Broncos, over .500 for the first time since, gulp, the morning of Oct. 1, 2018, should start 3-0. They travel to Jacksonville next week and the Jaguars were gashed by Houston 37-21, allowing 449 yards and 12 third-down conversions. The Week 3 home opener is against the New York Jets, who rushed for only 45 yards in a 19-14 loss at Carolina.

“It feels good and it’s a step in the right direction,” inside linebacker Josey Jewell said. “We still have a ways to go week-by-week and day-by day (but) everybody’s excited and we’ll enjoy this until (Monday).”

They should enjoy it because it was a team-wide performance.

The defense limited the Giants’ running backs to 33 yards on 14 carries, produced one takeaway (Jewell’s forced fumble of quarterback Daniel Jones) and had two sacks (both by outside linebacker Von Miller).

The offense went a combined 10 of 18 on third and fourth downs, rolled up 420 yards and had a 35:08-24:52 advantage in time of possession.

As for this being Fangio’s best game as Broncos coach, it starts with his aggressive game management.

Last year, the Broncos were 4 of 15 on fourth down; they were 3 of 3 against the Giants and each was critical in building a 27-7 lead.

Second possession: On fourth-and-7 from the Giants’ 37, Bridgewater threw 15 yards to receiver Tim Patrick (3.26 seconds). The Broncos took a 3-0 lead on Brandon McManus’ 23-yard field goal.

Fourth possession: On fourth-and-2 from the Giants’ 49 and 48 seconds remaining in the first half, Bridgewater threw 14 yards to receiver Courtland Sutton (2.40 seconds) over the middle.

“It was more of a gut feeling than anything else,” Fangio said. “When I brought it up, I didn’t have a lot of backing by anybody. It was kind of cricket-like (on the headsets). But I said, ‘We’re doing it.’ I had confidence in the offense, No. 1, and No. 2, I knew if we got a first down, we could go get some points. I thought it was important.”

Fangio’s confidence was rewarded and the drive was capped by a two-yard touchdown catch by receiver Tim Patrick to give the Broncos the lead for good (10-7).

Fifth possession: On fourth-and-1 from the Giants’ 4, Bridgewater was immediately in trouble. Sensing this, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, who fumbled in the red zone earlier in the game, scored a terrific four-yard touchdown to cap a 16-play drive to open the second half and lead 17-7.

“On that play, I wasn’t even involved in the pass (play); my job was to cut off the end,” Okwuegbunam said. “I saw Teddy scrambling and just gave him an outlet.”

Bridgewater evaded unblocked blitzing safety Xavier McKinney to buy time. Okwuegbunam peeled off his original assignment blocking linebacker Oshane Ximines to run parallel of Bridgewater. He caught the pass at the 7-yard line, made linebacker Blake Martinez miss and dove for the end zone.

“We really appreciated Coach showing that confidence in us (on fourth down),” Bridgewater said. “We talk about coaches believing in players and players wanting the coaches to believe in us and that was the ultimate sign of belief.”

Fangio certainly had confidence in Bridgewater to make the right decision in all of those situations, but let’s face it, he also knew the opponent. The Giants aren’t any good. Even if he gifted Big Blue with good field position, the chances were pretty solid they would make a big blunder.

The story could be the same against the Jaguars. Stress them and they’ll break. Beat the Jaguars and Fangio may have momentum for the first time in his tenure. But he’s not getting ahead of himself.

“I’m a one-game-at-a-time guy and I know that sounds like a cliché, but it really is that with me,” he said. “My whole focus will be Jacksonville and trying to get to 2-0. Everything will be pointed in that direction.”