NEW ORLEANS -- With the emotions of a return to a city he coached in for 16 years, on a night the Saints had set aside to celebrate their all-time quarterback in Drew Brees, Broncos coach Sean Payton knew he would need more than a moment to take it all in.
"I'm glad I was here early, like early early, six hours before the game early," Payton said. "Just had plenty of time to grab some coffee. ... That part of it, coming back here, was special."
Payton, now in his second season with the Broncos, returned to the Superdome as an opposing head coach for the first time Thursday night, ventured into the stadium's visitors locker room for the first time and then watched his current team put in an elite defensive performance in a workmanlike 33-10 victory over the Saints.
It moved the Broncos to 4-3, their best record after seven games since the 2016 season, when they started 5-2.
"It was nice to get the win against his former team, especially for our coach, and the rest of the staff and the guys who played here," Broncos offensive tackle Mike McGlinchey said. "Really proud of how we handled it, what we did."
Payton was the Saints' coach from 2006 until 2021, and Brees was his starting quarterback for his entire tenure. Brees was honored at halftime as the newest member of the Saints' Hall of Fame and, before the game, ran out of the tunnel to a thunderous roar from a sellout crowd after the Saints defense had been introduced.
But after all the pregame swirl gave way to the kickoff, the Broncos simply dispatched the injury-ravaged Saints on all fronts on a short week. The Broncos defense finished with six sacks and a defensive touchdown and held the Saints to 271 total yards, 92 of those yards in the fourth quarter when the Broncos had many of their backups in the defensive lineup.
The Broncos rushed for 225 yards on offense -- 88 yards and two touchdowns from running back Javonte Williams as well as 75 yards from quarterback Bo Nix -- as Denver scored on six consecutive possessions in the middle of the game. All in all, the focused effort Payton had said he wanted on an abbreviated practice week.
"It's just easy to complain on a short week," Payton said. "But overall I'm pleased with how we played."
In addition to Payton's early arrival to the Superdome, he spent a little more time than usual pregame talking to his family and a large group of friends from the New Orleans area. Payton and several of the Broncos' coaches and staff members who had worked with the Saints during his time in New Orleans had also briefly attended an event for Brees earlier Thursday.
The Broncos have a long list of assistant coaches who were on Payton's staff with the Saints as well as former Saints players who are now on the Broncos' roster. Payton said running back Tyler Badie, whose family relocated from the New Orleans area to Maryland after Hurricane Katrina, showed him a photo before the game of the 12-year-old Badie in a Saints jersey, standing next to his father at training camp.
"Then you feel old," Payton said.
Following the win, Payton was presented with the game ball in the Broncos' locker room.
"[It] meant a lot," Payton said. "Because there were a lot of moments here. Because you get a chance to see old players and then to be with this team, this ownership group, it's the reason you miss it, the year I was out [2022] ... you miss relationships, you miss making memories."