DENVER, Colo. — Brian Burns still wore his grass-stained, sweat-drenched uniform in the visiting locker room at Empower Field as his teammates changed. Minutes went by. He didn’t care. He wasn’t moving on -- physically or emotionally. Not yet.

The Giants have lost before. But this was different. They had their foot on the throat of a Broncos team with Super Bowl aspirations: Up 19 to begin the fourth, up 18 with six minutes left, up two with 33 seconds to play. It didn’t matter.

Denver won, 33–32 -- a historic fourth-quarter collapse just as the Giants had seemingly righted their season.

As Burns searched for answers, he lost control. The Giants defender slumped inside his locker and sobbed, his hands moving from his eyes to his head and back again.

How? How did this happen?

“There is no way in hell we were supposed to lose that game,” Burns said.

Historically, Burns is right. NFL teams were 1,602–0 when leading by 18 points with six minutes remaining -- a mark the Giants hit when Jaxson Dart’s pass bounced off Wan’Dale Robinson’s hands, into Theo Johnson’s, and the big-bodied tight end raced 41 yards for a touchdown.

These were the Broncos -- arguably the best defense in the NFL (top five in points and yards allowed) thanks to a ferocious pass rush. Their offense, led by Sean Payton, is feisty and explosive. Yet the Giants were running away from them. It was, after Johnson’s touchdown, a blowout.

It made you wonder …

Maybe that victory a week ago over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles wasn’t a mirage. Maybe New York really had turned a corner. They were minutes from winning their third game in four weeks. Their season completely back on track. A playoff run -- yes, really -- a legitimate possibility.

Not anymore.

What happened next is still hard to comprehend.

“We can’t have that in the fourth quarter,” Dexter Lawrence said.

Bo Nix took Denver down the field for a touchdown -- he ran it in himself. The Broncos converted the two-point attempt on a pass to Courtland Sutton. The Giants got the ball back, then gave it right back. On one of his only mistakes of the day, Dart didn’t see Justin Strnad drop into his throwing lane and threw it right to him.

Four plays later, another Broncos touchdown -- Nix found R.J. Harvey for a two-yard score. The Giants went three-and-out. The Broncos marched right back down the field. Nix broke free for an 18-yard touchdown run to give Denver a four-point lead with 1:51 to play.

Nix became the first player in NFL history with two passing and two rushing touchdowns in one quarter.

“When you get down to that fourth quarter, when it’s time to stand up and you need a stop, we’ve got to be better,” cornerback Dru Phillips said. “I’ve got to be better.”

It still didn’t matter. Dart, whose moxie and unwavering confidence had ignited this team, brought them down the field again. He converted a fourth-and-19 to Robinson. He watched Beaux Collins draw a pass interference penalty to put the ball at the Broncos’ one-yard line.

That’s when Dart called his shot. On first-and-goal, the Giants spread the tight ends, backs and receivers out — the NFL equivalent of a basketball player going iso. Dart took the snap, powered off the left side and lunged into the end zone.

Dart threw for 283 yards and had four total touchdowns (three passing, one rushing).

“I think he’s going to be a really good player for us in the future,” said tackle Andrew Thomas.

The excitement was short-lived.

Jude McAtamney missed the extra point -- his second of the game.

Nix, on the first pass of the ensuing drive, found Marvin Mims over the middle for 29 yards. He then hit Sutton for 22 more. The Denver drive started at its own 23-yard line with 33 seconds left and one timeout. In two plays, they were at the Giants’ 21.

Wil Lutz trotted on with two seconds to play. He made the 39-yard, game-winning field goal.

“We lost the game,” said Brian Daboll, who was was irate, screaming at defensive coordinator Shane Bowen moments after Lutz’s kick sailed through. “It was upsetting.”

A losing locker room is a unique place. You never quite know what you’re going to walk into. Most Giants players were despondent on Sunday. While Burns cried, anger and frustration boiled over for others.

Burns and Lawrence questioned Bowen’s defensive philosophy on the Broncos’ final drive. They rushed just three and dropped eight on the pass to Mims. Others, like linebacker Bobby Okereke, cited a lack of execution. Dart took full responsibility for the interception.

“That s--t can’t happen,” he said.

The problem with the Giants: It always does.

This was their ninth straight road loss. They have the second-worst record in the NFL over the past 10 years (56-110-1). They really thought things had changed after beating the Eagles. Dart himself called it a statement.

It sure looked that way through three quarters -- until it all fell apart.

Silver lining: Dart looks good. Really, really good. The Giants may very well have their franchise quarterback. But how they pick up the pieces -- to salvage the season -- is the real challenge.

This is the kind of loss that can fracture a team. One that can spiral. And spiraling for the Giants might very well lead to the loss of jobs.

Burns isn’t alone in wondering:

How did that just happen?