Neither Sean Payton’s former team nor his current one is having the kind of success he generally is accustomed to.
Payton and his Denver Broncos visit the New Orleans Saints, who Payton coached to nine playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title during his 15-season tenure, on Thursday night.
Both teams are coming off losses. The Broncos (3-3) lost to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 23-16 last Sunday, ending a three-game winning streak. The Saints (2-4) fell to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 51-27, their fourth consecutive loss under Dennis Allen, Payton’s former defensive coordinator who was promoted when Payton resigned after the 2021 season.
Regardless of the teams’ records, this game was always going to be primarily about Payton’s return to New Orleans, where he arrived in 2006 as a well-regarded offensive assistant but untested head coach as the city was recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
“It will be unique,” Payton said. “Certainly, there will be emotions going back there, but I do think that comes up quite a bit in our league with players and, in this case, certainly the amount of time I was there.”
Payton said he understands that the Saints fans probably won’t have “a lot of flowers and warm fuzzies for yours truly,” which they certainly will have at halftime when former quarterback Drew Brees is recognized for his induction into the Saints Hall of Fame earlier in the day.
Brees signed with the Saints as a free agent shortly after Payton was hired and went on to become one of the most prolific passers in NFL history before retiring a year before Payton resigned.
Payton is in his second season with the Broncos, who finished 8-9 last season, and he’s trying to show that he can adapt the offense within which Brees thrived to fit rookie No. 1 draft choice Bo Nix. But Nix has the 34th-highest passer rating (73.7) and is 23rd in total yards (1,082) in the NFL.
Most of Denver’s success so far has been because of its defense, which is ranked fourth in points per game (16) and yards per game (284.3).
Allen’s defense, meanwhile, has slipped to last in average yards (395.8) and 23rd in points allowed (24.5).
“(Payton) does a really good job with the offense — a lot of different personnel groups, a lot of different formations,” Allen said of his former boss. “And he does a really good job of identifying areas of weakness that he wants to try to attack.”
The Saints are less concerned about who’s coaching the opponent than they are about trying to end their losing streak as they complete a stretch of three games in 11 days.
“He’s going to be fired up,” New Orleans defensive end Cam Jordan said. “Everybody in this building knows who Sean Payton is, and if he sees blood in the water, he’s going to try and take advantage. We’re not helping to deter that at this point.”
Rookie fifth-round draft choice Spencer Rattler will make his second consecutive start in place of injured quarterback Derek Carr.
Rattler was good enough to rally his team from an early 17-0 deficit to a 27-24 halftime lead last week, but not good enough to prevent it from being shut out in the second half.
Carr (oblique) was one of five New Orleans starters who were listed as not participating after both teams held walkthroughs Tuesday. The others were wide receivers Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed (knee), guard Cesar Ruiz (knee) and linebacker Pete Werner (hamstring). One Denver starter, cornerback Pat Surtain II, is in the league’s concussion protocol and did not participate.
