5 takeaways from beating the New Orleans Saints on “TNF”

Sean Payton and the Denver Broncos earned a 33-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints Thursday Night Football in Week 7. Here are five quick takeaways from the win.

1. Cody Barton had a day: The veteran linebacker finished the game with eight tackles, a sack, a pass breakup, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in which he returned 52 yards for a touchdown. Barton also scored another goal early in the game, which was canceled out by a defensive penalty. He was an important part of defensive coordinator Vance Joseph's team.

2. The Broncos had a historic day on the ground: Denver finished the game with 225 rushing yards, the team's best total in a game since 2013. Javonte Williams led the way with 14 carries for 88 yards and two touchdowns. Against a hapless Saints defense, Williams looked arguably his best since his knee injury in 2022. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix also had a big rushing day with 10 carries for 75 yards. The only hiccup on the ground came when rookie Audric Estime recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter, marking his second career fumble on just his eighth touchdown.

3. Ex-Saints have achieved great success for the Broncos: Denver kicker Wil Lutz went 4 of 4 on field goal attempts and 3 of 3 on extra point attempts for 15 points. Broncos linebacker Kwon Alexander also started against his former team after being called up from the practice squad. The veteran linebacker had a tackle and recovered a fumble.

4. Bo Nix needs to calm down: Nix made great plays with his legs and seemed more composed and precise once Denver built a lead, but he got off to an ugly start to the game. Nix seemed to have timid feet in the pocket and threw a few ugly bad passes right from the start. He also had a bad throw that should have been intercepted by Tyrann Mathieu just before halftime. Nix improved as the game went on, finishing the day with a 61.5% shooting percentage and no turnovers, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

5. This meant a lot to Sean Payton: Leading up to the game, Broncos players downplayed it as “just another game,” and Payton didn't make a big deal about facing his former team, at least not to the media. However, it was clearly an emotional night for the coach, and the players had extra motivation to get a win for Payton in New Orleans. The evening couldn't have gone better for Denver's coach.