Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00They know how to do it, DRS, those schedule makers, of course, in the NFL, the first five
00:10divisional duels, significant matchups that have an important implication even outside
00:15of a short week game.
00:17This one from a narrative perspective, as we will break down, certainly does.
00:21But in terms of the matchup, Denver a two and a half point road favorite in NOLA against
00:26the Saints, total is minimal at 36 and a half.
00:31Donnie, we'll break down the matchup in just a second.
00:34But here is why this game has a little bit of added juice.
00:37That would be Sean Payton making his return now in his second year at the helm in Denver
00:43to his former home in New Orleans.
00:45Sean Payton spent 15 years as the Saints head coach from the 2006 season through 2021.
00:53Of course, he was suspended for the entirety of 2012, won a Super Bowl with the Saints
00:58back in 2009.
01:00In those 15 years as the active head coach, led the Saints to double digit wins nine times.
01:05He is the winningest head coach in the history of the Saints.
01:08He is the longest tenured head coach in the history of this New Orleans franchise that
01:12dates back to 1967.
01:15What will the reception be for Sean Payton back in the Big Easy tonight?
01:20Well, they'll probably give him a nice cheer to start the game.
01:23And then once that game starts here, you're going to boom all the way through because
01:25you're always going to be rooting for your hometown team.
01:28But from a perspective for me, I don't really think the fans like, hey, Sean Payton's coming
01:31home.
01:32It's going to be interesting to see.
01:33But Sean Payton going home, knowing that he wants to beat the franchise that he was with
01:36for so long and also a meaningful win, which will really help the Denver Broncos out.
01:40I think it means a lot more from that side of it.
01:43So fans coming on, because I remember also, you know, Philadelphia Eagles fans, Andy Reid
01:46coming home was like, yeah, we want to see Big Red and all that stuff.
01:50And all the years of joy that he gave us, never able to get us over the hump, different
01:53with Sean Payton, because he was able to win a Super Bowl.
01:55We'll get cheered there.
01:56Same thing with Doug Peterson came back to Philadelphia when the Jacksonville Jaguars
01:59went down.
02:00Kind of standing ovation before the game, brought him a Super Bowl.
02:02But once that game starts, you hope that he gets embarrassed and you win your game 35
02:06to nothing at that point.
02:07But the homecoming perspective, I think means a lot for Payton as opposed to the fans and
02:12the Saints themselves.
02:14It certainly does.
02:15Right.
02:16There's not bad blood.
02:17It was Sean Payton that walked away from coaching.
02:20He was a broadcaster for a year and then went to Denver.
02:22In fact, for the Broncos, even a higher Sean Payton as their head coach, they had to trade
02:28with New Orleans and give the Saints draft assets because Payton still was under contract
02:34with the Saints, having retired, not having been fired or ending his contract out in the
02:41terms of it.
02:42So that will add a magnitude to this game.
02:45Now, as we see, Denver is a two and a half point road favorite, short week, Thursday
02:49night football matchup of two rookie quarterbacks, Bo Nix for Denver, Spencer Rattler in his
02:54second career game for New Orleans and a minimal number at 36 and a half.
02:59Do you add the Sean Payton homecoming to your handicap at all?
03:05Not necessarily, but I do think he's the better coach than Dennis Allen.
03:07I do think it's a better football team than New Orleans Saints.
03:10So that's more of the handicap for me.
03:12But there is added incentive in this game because, you know, sometimes we're the locker
03:16room itself.
03:17You understand big events here.
03:18When a football player is returning to play his previous team, the quarterback's always
03:22going to want to take care of him and say, you know what?
03:23I know what this means to you.
03:25I'm not going to force you the football, but if you're there, I'm going to make sure you
03:27get it here.
03:28Same thing with Sean Payton.
03:29The last thing he wants is to go on a Thursday night football game with all the hype of him
03:32returning back and the Saints come away with a victory 24 to 13.
03:36That would be embarrassing for him and his teammates know that and so does the organization.
03:40So I'm not saying they're going to try harder just because of that, because they're professionals.
03:43They're trying hard every game, but it is a little bit of that edge where you know how
03:47big of a game and before the season started, hey, we're playing the Saints this year.
03:51Where do we have them?
03:52Oh, this one's going to be on the road.
03:53You know that he circled the calendar going like this is going to be an emotional week.
03:56It's going to be a short week here.
03:58We better make sure that we're buttoned up for this one.