Genge ground another penalty out of Zander Fagerson two minutes after the restart. George Ford clipped it over for 24-13.
The Scotland front row were backed up once more. Another penalty and Murrayfield sat a little less easy.
As Ford dropped back into the pocket to line up a drop-goal on 53 minutes, it felt like the drip-drip scoreboard pressure was set to grow.
But Ford, who 15 months ago missed a late drop-goal to beat the All Blacks, had not given himself enough space.
Matt Fagerson, fresh off the bench, was too quick. Charge-down, try, England’s Grand Slam dreams in the dust and Scots dancing in the stands.
England’s bomb squad came on, but didn’t really go off. Scotland held them at bay and finished in comfort.
Borthwick said Ford’s charged-down drop-goal was influential in the outcome, but far from the only cause of England’s defeat.
“This is a team that has reeled in a lot of opponents over a long period of time,” he said of his side.
“It’s 24-13, you get that drop-goal, 24-16 and with 24 minutes left, that’s a different complexion.
“That 10-point swing was clearly a big point in the game, but there’s plenty of other smaller moments in the game that added up to that result.”