With Sean Payton returning to New Orleans, the Denver Broncos produced their best offensive performance of the season. They dominated the New Orleans Saints from beginning to end in a 33-10 drubbing on the road against the Saints.
Denver Broncos Rushing Attack Dominates
The Denver Broncos running game had struggled for most of the season until Thursday night. With the return of starting Right Tackle Mike McGlinchey and the resurgence of Running Back Javonte Williams, the Denver Broncos literally ran over the New Orleans Saints. The Broncos rushing attack ran over, though, and around the Saints for 225 total yards and an average of 6.4 yards a carry.
Sean Payton has been saying all offseason and into the regular season that the keys to helping a rookie quarterback are running the football and playing good defense. The defense has been holding up its end of the bargain, and it continued Thursday as it only gave up 10 points (seven of those in garbage time at the end of the game). Finally, in week 7, the running game showed out in style against the Saints.
Emotional Win
Head Coach Sean Payton attempted to downplay the magnitude of his return to New Orleans, but it is natural for him to desperately want to win the game in the place where he achieved so much success. The blowout victory over his former team brought Payton to tears as he addressed the victorious Denver Broncos locker room.
In an interview with the television crew after the game, Payton expressed his love for creating memories. He reminisced about his time in New Orleans but was adamant that he was focused on making new memories in Denver. He said that the way you create memories is by winning games, as they did against the Saints.
Payton will always be beloved in New Orleans because of the fans’ memories of his visor-wearing profile and roaming the sidelines of the Superdome. Wins like Thursday night will have Broncos fans smiling from ear to ear and remembering the night Payton and the Broncos returned to “The Big Easy” and easily defeated the Saints.
Looking Ahead
The Broncos essentially have a mini-bye week now and will look forward to playing the Carolina Panthers in just over a week. It will be an opportunity for injuries to heal and for additional focus on the task at hand. After a home game against the Panthers, the Denver Broncos face a gauntlet of teams that will either make or break the season. They will travel to Baltimore and Kansas City to take on arguably the two best teams in the AFC, and they return home to take on a formidable Atlanta Falcons team.
You never get a week off in the NFL, and the Broncos have their work cut out for them as they face the most difficult section of the season in the next 4 weeks. If the Broncos can keep running the ball and limit opponents to 10 or fewer points to finish the upcoming part of the season at .500 or better, they will put themselves in a tremendous position to put some fear into the rest of the league.
Final Thoughts
Sean Payton spent considerable time and resources creating a culture that values winning above all else. The Denver Broncos continue to stack wins, and that is the best way to create a sustainable culture. There is a great deal to improve upon, even after a decisive victory, but they showed grit and poise on Thursday, and that will go a long way in determining the story of the 2024 Denver Broncos.
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