I love seeing our team destroy their opponents and win with ease. It’s not something we as a fanbase have enjoyed much in recent memory, so we all really enjoyed the moment.

I really think this game was an absolutely great development opportunity for the team. The New Orleans Saints have a terribly constructed roster, which really led to the team being able to win multiple matchups on almost every play on both sides of the ball and getting a lot of reps on good running plays.

Offence

This is damn close to the peak production of what the Denver Broncos offense is capable of under the coaching of Sean Payton and Bo Nix as the starting quarterback. Sure, they dropped some points on the field early in the game, but overall the performance was brilliant.

The buzzing running game opened everything up for the attack. Swing passes and screens were productive. The passing game had to make both quick and intermediate throws to keep the chains moving, but never felt like it needed to push the offense like in previous games this season.

I also harped on third down efficiency and said this offense would come alive if they converted just ⅓ of the time on third down. They ended the evening with 36.5% in third place. Payton has mentioned it constantly in his pressers and it makes a huge difference to how good an offense looks overall.

Line

Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

The offensive line won the game and deserves to get the lead-off section for the offense. I can’t remember a game where our inside linemen looked as good as how well Ben Powers, Alex Forsyth, and Quinn Meinerz played in this game. They were building bus lanes for the backs to walk through. They continually reached the second level and kept those lanes clear for the back end.

Let’s not leave out tackles Garrett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey, though. Both bookends on the line held him down, blocking their tails and generally keeping Nix clean throughout the game.

Quarterbacks

Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images

As a runner, Bo Nix is ​​a real weapon. They leaned on a lot of read-option plays early, which helped keep the defense off balance and open up the offense.

He still has a lot of work to do in terms of accuracy as we saw a poor early pass knocked over to a short goal. Two plays later, Tim Tebow again jumped a pass to an open receiver. This is where I say we left a lot of points on the board. I don’t know if this can be resolved during the season, but it should be a focus for Nix next year as he really needs to learn more about keeping his platform better aligned to aid the consistency of his throws. I honestly think that the majority of his poor throws come solely from the fact that he chooses to throw off his back foot, and that this is something that is very fixable if he is willing to put in the work.

I’m excited to see Nix hit some easy routes. They are a staple of the Sean Payton offense and can really help drives build momentum while keeping defenses on their heels. He hit both Vele and Franklin with perfect throws. This is just another wrinkle from the offense that can help support the defense and prevent them from stacking the box to stop the run game.

Running backs

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

While I give a lot of credit to the line for this running game, someone needs credit for carrying the actual ball and Javonte Williams put together another fantastic game to add to his season. He had 88 yards rushing on just 14 attempts with 2 touchdowns on the day. There was a lot of daylight and he kept running there all game for easy yards.

Jaleel McLaughlin also had a good game, utilizing his 4 carries for 35 yards on a run that was just one single tackle away from being called home in the third quarter.

Audric Estime got more carries in this game with great success with 5 carries for 29 yards, but also showed some flaw in his play. He fumbled in the second half while holding the ball correctly and just had too little strength to get the ball. It was an ugly look for a guy you’ll hopefully want to hand the ball to for 10+ games in the future. Hopefully, some offseason NFL-level training can help improve his arm strength and help him minimize fumble risk to his team.

Recipients

Photo by Gus Stark/Getty Images

Troy Franklin is having a pretty solid day at Wide Receiver for the Broncos. He had 5 catches for 50 yards, including an excellent catch for 30 yards in the second quarter. It was both good to see him get a lot of development opportunities, and to see him be able to consistently contribute to the offense with solid hands throughout the game.

Lucas Krull had an excellent leaping catch over the middle for 23 yards in the third quarter. He looks like a tight end who can step up as the season goes on and basically be a passing threat for the team, and I love that. He has the athleticism and size to be a complete mismatch on the field, which would help this offense immensely.

I honestly don’t know what to think when Courtland Sutton is on the field for 86% of the attacks and only gets one target the entire game (it doesn’t show up in the stats due to a penalty on New Orleans during the game while his defender was hitting him on the route). Has Sutton been washed? Does Nix favor throws to the younger receivers? I do think Sutton never fully regained his speed due to his leg injury in 2020. It makes him more of a big possession receiver rather than a true #1 jump ball target. That said, I think he still has a lot left in the tank and if the Broncos don’t want to use him for some reason, they should think about trading him so he can do his thing elsewhere.

Defense

This defense without their best player in Patrick Surtain II only held an NFL team to a paltry 10 points. Yes, the Saints trotted out a rookie who looked a little out of his depth. You have no control over who you play each week, and you don’t have to apologize for it.

The Broncos defense continued to dominate with plenty of man coverage at the back, freeing up creative blitz underneath to keep the attack largely in disarray throughout the game.

While I hope Vance Joseph decides to stay with Denver and be a well-paid, top-notch defensive coordinator for the rest of his career, he is on track to take another look at being a head coach in the NFL if that’s what he wants to do based on what we do. I’ve seen him do this defense during his time with Sean Payton.

Front 7

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Cody Barton had a breakout game for the Broncos. While he just missed an interception early and had a fumble returned for a touchdown that was called back on a penalty; late in the game he picked up a fumble caused by a corner blitz and brought it in for 6 points. He tied with two other players to lead the team in tackles with 8, had a sack, had a quarterback hurry, one pass defense to his credit, and both caused and recovered a fumble on the day. This is the kind of production you want to see from inside linebackers in a 3-4 defense. Making impactful plays is what sets players apart, not just getting a high number of tackles in each game.

Zach Allen continues his monster season with another pocket-busting half-sack. He was a nuisance to the Saints’ passing game all night, including three quarterback hurries. The man was constantly double-teamed and still had an impact.

John Franklin-Meyers had a nice technical sack up the middle on second down and long in the third quarter. He took a leap-step to the left while sweeping the guard’s arms to the right and turned on the afterburners to get around the defender and take down the quarterback. He also had a tackle for loss and a quarterback rush on the day while only being on the field for 40% of the snaps.

Secondary

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Ja’Quan McMillian had his best game of the year against the Saints. He had one great tackle in the open field in the second quarter, which was a huge tackle for loss. He had another at the end of the half, which Kamara caught in the flat and was immediately blown up. This man is a football player in every sense. He finished the game with 6 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFLs, 1 rush and 1 pass defense to his name.

PJ Locke and Brandon Jones from the safety positions were active participants in this game. Both had tackles for losses and had 5 tackles each on the night.

Special teams

Photo by Gus Stark/Getty Images

Wil Lutz had another perfect game for the Broncos as kicker. He was 4 of 4 on field goals and scored all three of his extra points that night.

I see you, JL Skinner. On a kickoff return in the middle of the second quarter, Skinner hit the returner so hard that the returner’s grandchildren felt it. He did a great job of not getting stuck on his blocker, throwing himself off the block and attacking the ball carrier in space.

Final thoughts

This was a fun win to watch, but I think it’s important not to get carried away with it. To their credit, the Saints were not healthy and almost had a snakebite as a team when it came to injuries. While I think this was a great game for the development of the young Broncos, I don’t think this is a tone-setting game.

As long as the team keeps their heads down and doesn’t let this game go to their heads, they should continue their success against the Panthers in a few weeks. Then they get a real test as they head to Baltimore to take on the Ravens.