Thursday Night NFL Matchup: Denver Broncos vs. New Orleans Saints

Denver Broncos vs. New Orleans Saints

The Denver Broncos will travel to New Orleans, LA, for a Thursday Night NFL matchup with the New Orleans Saints. The oddsmakers have the Denver Broncos listed as a 2 1/2-point favorite, with the total being 37 points.

We don’t have much history between these two teams, as they haven’t played since November 29th, 2020. In that game, the New Orleans Saints spanked the Denver Broncos at home in Denver by a score of 31 – 3. They played each other four times before that, with the Denver Broncos winning each game from 2008.

Let’s jump in here and break down this game by each team’s individually.

Denver Broncos Preview

Not many people had the Denver Broncos as a .500 team heading into this season, but with a record of 3 -3, they are shutting down the doubters with the rookie quarterback. They’ve also been a good money grab for their supporters, as they’ve covered the spread in four out of seven games this year.

The Broncos are coming off a home loss last week—23 – 16 to the Los Angeles Chargers. Prior to that, they were on a three-game win streak, which included wins over the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

One thing that schedule makers had to consider when making this a Thursday night game was the fact that Sean Payton, the former head football coach of the New Orleans Saints, is now coaching in Denver. That makes this game ever so important to Denver, as their head coach will want this one on a personal level.

The Broncos are led by quarterback Bo Nix. Nix hasn’t been what Denver fans have expected. He surpassed 1000 yards on the season last week, but he only has a 61.1% completion rate. He has five touchdowns on the year, but he also has five interceptions to match that. Needless to say, the Broncos have the 29th-ranked offense in the NFL, and the only thing keeping them in games is their stout defense, which ranks fourth in the league.

New Orleans Saints Preview

New Orleans Saints fans have to wonder what happened to the team that started out 2-0 and posted scores of 44 and 47 points. Since then, the Saints have lost four straight games to the Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

To make matters even worse. They haven’t scored more than 27 points in any of those losses. To add alcohol to the wound, the Saints gave up 51 points to Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week.

With a record of 2-4, the Saints must find a way to turn this around, or their season will shortly be over. Part of the reason for their sudden demise Is their defense. The New Orleans Saints have the worst defense in the NFL, ranked 32nd, and allow nearly 400 yards per game in total offense.

Spooky Express NFL Free Play

I don’t know if anyone enjoys betting on this game, but we will give it a swing. With it being a short week for both teams and knowing that New Orleans has a horrific defense, we’ll lean to the Denver Broncos, but we’ll take them on the money line.

Head coach Sean Payton’s return to New Orleans is a significant factor in this game, and this is one he’s circled on his calendar for a very long time. Until New Orleans can produce some defense and stop opposing offenses, we have to bet against them. Give us the Denver Broncos-145 as the Spooky Express free NFL play of the day for this Thursday Night NFL matchup.

Free Play: Denver Broncos -145 ML