Get Ready for an Emotional Broncos vs. Saints Showdown For Thursday Night Football

The Saints and Broncos meet in the Superdome, and the emotions will be high with Sean Payton and Drew Brees in the building.

Oct 13, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara (41) runs in for a touchdown agains the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

NFL Week 7 kicks off with the Saints (2-4) hosting the Broncos (3-3) in what will be a very emotional night. Sean Payton returns to the Superdome and Drew Brees will be going into the Saints Hall of Fame. Aside that, New Orleans has lost four straight and desperately needs to find a way to pull out a victory before they face their mini-bye. That'll be challenging, but they have to push through it and come out on top. Here's our Pregame Report.

Week 7 Saints Pregame Report vs. Broncos

Oct 13, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (18) hands off to running back Alvin Kamara (41) against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the second half at Caesars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

All-Time Series: The Broncos lead the all-time series 9-3 and have won five of the past six matchups.

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime (7:15 p.m. CT) - Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung (field reporter); WDSU (NBC) locally

Where to Stream: Amazon, NFL+

Where to Listen: WWL Radio locally (105.3FM) with Mike Hoss, Deuce McAllister and Jeff Nowak (sideline reporter); Westwood One: Kevin Kugler, Ryan Harris; SIRIUSXM: Broncos Feed | Saints Feed

Referee: Land Clark

Current Lines: Broncos -2.5 (O/U at 37)

Jersey Combo: Throwback jerseys and helmets

Last 5 Matchups

Nov 29, 2020; Denver, Colorado, USA; New Orleans Saints outside linebacker Demario Davis (56) and outside linebacker Kwon Alexander (58) celebrate a play in against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

• 11/29/20 - Saints 31, Broncos 3
• 11/13/16 - Broncos 25, Saints 23
• 10/28/12 - Broncos 34, Saints 14
• 9/21/08 - Broncos 34, Saints 32
• 11/21/04 - Broncos 34, Saints 13

Saints Notes and Storylines for Week 7

Nov 18, 2018; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees (9) on the sidelines in the fourth quarter against the Philadelphia Eagles at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Saints won, 48-7. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-Imagn Images / Chuck Cook-Imagn Images

BATTERED AND BRUISED: New Orleans enters Thursday without their top two wide receivers (Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed), Taysom Hill, Pete Werner and Cesar Ruiz again. The hope is that the team gets healthier going into their game against the Chargers at the end of the month, but Shaheed's injury is the most concerning at the moment. The Saints had 17 players on the injury report this week, and at this point it's just comical.

YOUNG GUNS IN FOCUS: Spencer Rattler gets his second start and will rely on young wide receivers Mason Tipton and Bub Means for some production. With the injury woes, this has the vibe of a preseason game for the roster. There's talent there, and they don't have much of a choice but to step up. Kendre Miller should make his return to action, so that could be a boost for an almost non-existent running game. This youth will have to power the Saints if they want to get a win here.

CAN THE DEFENSE DEFENSE? For two weeks in a row, the Saints defense has been pretty bad. Sure, they've got some small moral victories to celebrate, but there was major fallout in the loss to the Bucs. New Orleans couldn't tackle and they talked about going back to the fundamentals there and that it can't be fixed in just a short window. That's alarming. With injuries to the offense, Dennis Allen's defense has to show up and help them out here.

PAYTON'S RETURN AND BREES' MOMENT: There will be special rally towels for Thursday night if you're attending the game, and this game is arguably more about Drew Brees going into the Saints Hall of Fame than it is Sean Payton returning to New Orleans. Of course, this is in the eye of the beholder. Both did some amazing this during their time with the black and gold, most notably bringing a Super Bowl in 2009. The reception for Payton will be interesting to see, and of course you have the teacher-student/mentor-mentee storyline here. A demoralizing loss for the Saints courtesy of their old coach might have some major fallout. Maybe.