Broncos-Saints on 'Thursday Night Football': Five things we learned ...

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1. Payton’s return to New Orleans turns painful for Saints fans. Sean Payton didn’t return to the Superdome wielding a chainsaw. Instead, he bled out his former team -- and the notoriously loud Saints fans’ energy level -- via death by a thousand paper cuts. The Broncos hardly turned in an offensive gem, with Bo Nix" data-link="/players/bo-nix/" data-slug="bo-nix">Bo Nix badly missing some receivers and those receivers dropping a few, too. But they moved the ball consistently all night against a chewed-up Saints defense, leaning on the run game and inflicting more punishment. Even without Pro Bowl cornerback Patrick Surtain II" data-link="/players/patrick-surtain-ii/" data-slug="patrick-surtain-ii">Patrick Surtain II, Denver’s defense dominated most of the game. It’s easy to think of slick offensive plays and daring in-game risks with Payton, but he also doesn't mind methodically grinding away at his opponent. Saints fans tepidly greeted Payton with a mixture of cheers and boos when he came out on the field. You know he had to enjoy this win, ugly as it might have been. It was also a nice revenge night for former Saints kicker Wil Lutz" data-link="/players/wil-lutz/" data-slug="wil-lutz">Wil Lutz, whom Payton traded for in Denver, making all four of his field goal tries. Even Lucas Krull" data-link="/players/lucas-krull/" data-slug="lucas-krull">Lucas Krull had a career high in receiving yards (41), and Kwon Alexander" data-link="/players/kwon-alexander/" data-slug="kwon-alexander">Kwon Alexander recovered a key first-half fumble. Yep, both are ex-Saints. The Broncos came into New Orleans and ran a second line parade up and down the Superdome on Thursday.
2. Saints' season has gone off the rails. After logging two wins and 91 points in the first two weeks of the season, the Saints have lost five straight games -- including three at the Superdome -- and have totaled a meager 79 points in the process. That’s now back-to-back home losses of 20-plus points for the first time since late in the 2001 season, five years before Payton took the Saints’ job. New Orleans lost at home by 20-plus points twice in Payton’s 15-year Saints career. The Broncos kept the door open early, but the Saints had no real response. They entered the game already missing their quarterback, two starting receivers and two offensive linemen, and the defense took two big hits on Thursday, losing cornerbacks Paulson Adebo" data-link="/players/paulson-adebo/" data-slug="paulson-adebo">Paulson Adebo (broken femur) and Marshon Lattimore" data-link="/players/marshon-lattimore/" data-slug="marshon-lattimore">Marshon Lattimore (hamstring). Saints fans seemed to have checked out following the Drew Brees Hall of Fame halftime ceremony, with many leaving afterward. Perhaps Dennis Allen calling a timeout right before halftime, only to have Spencer Rattler" data-link="/players/spencer-rattler/" data-slug="spencer-rattler">Spencer Rattler take a knee, did it. Or maybe it was Tyrann Mathieu" data-link="/players/tyrann-mathieu/" data-slug="tyrann-mathieu">Tyrann Mathieu’s drop of a gift-wrapped interception right before the half. Or the strip-sack or the missed tackles. Whatever it was, the fans seemed almost numb to the suffering -- or perhaps in shock that their former head coach was the one driving the stake in their season. At 2-5, things are really dicey now for Allen’s team, too banged up to compete with the bye week more than a month away.
3. Broncos' defense deserves praise for a good effort. It’s hard to measure just how strong a performance this was, given the Saints’ offensive injuries, but Denver’s defense came to play Thursday night. Four days ago, the Chargers pretty much ran roughshod over this group for three quarters, but the Broncos buckled up and turned in a good showing on short rest -- and without arguably their best player in Patrick Surtain II. They got pressure on Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler and only let him get loose as a scrambler twice. The coverage was also good on the back end, even though New Orleans' banged-up group of receivers didn’t appear to be a massive challenge. Cody Barton" data-link="/players/cody-barton/" data-slug="cody-barton">Cody Barton, who’s developing into one of Denver’s more reliable playmakers, was all over the place. He strip-sacked Rattler, should have had a pick and, after having a scoop-and-score erased by penalty in the first half, Barton hauled in a deflected Rattler pass and ran it back 52 yards for the death-blow touchdown. It was a four-quarter beatdown and arguably the Broncos' best statistical showing of the season on that side of the ball.
4. Both rookie quarterbacks had their share of struggles. The 2024 NFL season has featured some pretty impressive rookie-QB play on the whole, but Thursday’s game -- the first meeting of two rookie quarterbacks this season -- might not make the year-end highlight reel. Bo Nix outplayed Spencer Rattler, as you might expect from a quarterback who was picked 12th overall and who has held the job since training camp. But Nix was plenty sloppy at times, badly misfiring to several of his targets and getting away with a dropped interception by the Saints’ Tyrann Mathieu before halftime. He was effective with his legs and limited his mistakes, but Nix still has plenty of room for growth. Where was Courtland Sutton" data-link="/players/courtland-sutton/" data-slug="courtland-sutton">Courtland Sutton? Nix didn’t look his way once, for the first zero-target game of Sutton’s career. In his second start, Rattler was rattled after the first strip-sack and was under duress most of the night, unable to find much rhythm after a promising opening drive. Like Nix, he had a few effective scrambles. But the passing game never got going, with his shorthanded WR corps letting him down several times, and Rattler’s two lost fumbles were costly. Jake Haener" data-link="/players/jake-haener/" data-slug="jake-haener">Jake Haener replaced him in the final few minutes after Rattler sustained a hip pointer, leading the Saints to a garbage-time touchdown, so it’ll be interesting to see how Allen will handle the situation if Derek Carr" data-link="/players/derek-carr/" data-slug="derek-carr">Derek Carr isn’t healthy prior to the next game at the Chargers.
5. Even with injuries, Saints defense shouldn’t be this bad. Over the past 11 days, the Saints have allowed 110 points and nearly 1,500 yards. Two of those games in a four-day span happened at home. The run defense wasn’t as ghastly as it was against the Buccaneers on Sunday, but it wasn’t good against the Broncos Thursday night. Poor gap discipline, bad tackling and physical dominance all plagued the Saints up front. Missed tackles were a problem again, too. Then the secondary got stung with two big injuries, losing Paulson Adebo and Marshon Lattimore midgame, further bleeding out the depth chart. But there were too many open receivers and, outside of a few blitzes, too little pressure. There was also a noticeable lack of effort in some spots, further turning up the heat on Dennis Allen. He’s a defensive coach, and his former boss came in and controlled the game. Allen’s lack of aggressiveness -- even with a rookie QB -- put his defense in a few tough spots, and the offense struggled certainly led to Denver points. But this Saints defense should not be this bad. There had better be some major improvement over the mini-bye or this could end up one of the bottom-end statistical groups at season’s end.

Next Gen Stats Insight for Broncos-Saints (via NFL Pro): The Broncos defense generated 14 quick pressures (under 2.5 seconds) in their Week 7 win over the Saints, tied for the most quick pressures by a defense in a game this season. In Weeks 1-6, the Broncos generated a league-high 51 quick pressures.

NFL Research: After Sean Payton beat the Saints on Thursday, NFL head coaches are now 2-6 in their first road games against their former team of 10-plus seasons, since the 2000 season. The only prior win had been by the Chiefs’ Andy Reid in Week 3 of the 2013 season, beating the Eagles in Philadelphia.