Breaking Down the Start of NFL Week 7

NFL Week 7 got underway Thursday night when the Denver Broncos traveled to New Orleans to take on the NFC South Saints. The biggest story of the game was the homecoming of Sean Payton, the most successful head coach in Saints history.

Sean Payton, who became the Saints’ head coach in 2006, won 152 games in his 16 seasons at the helm, including a Super Bowl championship. He retired following the 2021 season, but in 2023 came out of retirement to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos. Thursday night was Payton’s first game back in New Orleans.

Before the game, Payton was asked if his homecoming was special. “It will only be special if we win,” was the reply.

On the other sideline, Dennis Allen, who worked for Peyton through most of his tenure in New Orleans, was looking to play the spoiler for his former boss’ first trip back home. The Saints were coming off an abysmal game the week before during which they gave up 51 points to the Buccaneers.

The Battle of the Rookie QBs

The 2024 NFL Draft was a historic one, as six quarterbacks were taken in the first 12 picks, the most in draft history. The Broncos grabbed Bo Nix with the 12th overall pick, making him the last signal-caller to be taken in the first round.

While the draft class was considered “top heavy,” experts were stunned when no quarterbacks were taken over the next 138 picks. With the 150th overall pick, the New Orleans Saints selected Spencer Rattler.

The two QBs took somewhat similar paths in college. Bo Nix started his collegiate career at Auburn University and was named as the starting QB as a true freshman ahead of the 2019 season. As a freshman, Nix led the Tigers to a 9-5 record, including a win in the Iron Bowl against Alabama, which led to Nix being named the 2019 SEC Freshman of the Year.

After the 2020 season was shortened due to COVID-19, Nix experienced a rollercoaster of a season in 2021. It was then that he was benched in the fourth quarter of a game against Georgia State. Ultimately, Nix would suffer a season-ending injury against Mississippi State. On December 12 of that year, Nix announced that he would be transferring from Auburn.

Nix spent his final two seasons at the University of Oregon, including his record-breaking 2023 campaign which launched him to the first round of the draft. When Nix was selected by the Broncos, it was with the assumption that he would have a good chance of earning the starting job, which he did.

Rattler also played for a pair of teams during his NCAA career. Rattler started his career at Oklahoma, where he won the starting job as a redshirt freshman ahead of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season during which he led Oklahoma to a Big-12 Championship.

Rattler entered the 2021 season as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy but lost his starting job to Caleb Williams after a poor performance against Texas. Rattler would not play another game at Oklahoma.

In December of 2022, Rattler announced that he was transferring to the University of South Carolina, joining the SEC just as Bo Nix made his move to the Pac-12. After a relatively inconsistent season in 2022, Rattler put together the best season in South Carolina history, passing for more than 3,100 yards and 19 touchdowns.

However, when the Saints drafted Rattler with the 150th pick, he was not expected to play in 2024, much less start. An injury to Derek Carr forced the Saints to turn to the rookie ahead of the week-six matchup against Tampa Bay, and he made his second career start against Denver on Thursday.

How the Game Played Out

The first half came to an end with the Broncos leading by a score of 16-3. While the Saints offense obviously struggled mightily, the Broncos didn’t look quite as dominant as the score would lead you to believe. Outside of a Javante Williams touchdown run from eight yards out, the Broncos were only able to put up three field goals.

Denver quickly added a field goal at the start of the third quarter, where the Saints' offense continued to sputter. The biggest play of the third quarter came on the Broncos’ second possession when Bo Nix ran up the far sideline on third-and-one for a gain of 33.

That led to a second Javonte Williams touchdown run (marking his first career game with two rushing scores) that largely put the game out of reach long before it was officially over. Former Saints kicker, Will Lutz tacked on the extra point to make it 26-3 Denver.

After Denver returned an interception for a touchdown, New Orleans’ lead grew to 33-3 late in the fourth quarter. The Saints did move down the field and score a touchdown with a little more than a minute to go, meaning they have been outscored 60-10 in their last seven quarters of play and have given up more than 1,000 yards of total offense in their last two games.

Bo Nix came into this game as the only rookie QB in Broncos history to win three consecutive starts. That’s quite impressive when you realize that this is the same organization that once had John Elway under center. Now, Nix sits at four straight wins. He’ll look to make it five straight next week against the Carolina Panthers.

Meanwhile, the Saints continue to struggle after starting the season 2-0, now losers of their last five straight games. The defense, once thought to be the strongest part of the team found itself struggling against the run once again this week, and they’ll head to Los Angeles next week to take on Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers.

Who Plays on Thursday Night Football in Week 8?

Thursday Night Football returns next week on Amazon Prime as the undefeated Minnesota Vikings make the trek to Los Angeles to take on Matt Stafford and the 1-4 Los Angeles Rams.