Did you have some sympathy for Broncos coach Vic Fangio, Sean Payton?
Any sympathy at all, given that the guy was forced to trot out an offense, in an NFL game, without the services of an NFL quarterback?
“Yeah, look, I think it’s tough for all the (teams),” the Saints coach replied. “Look, this is a challenging year. I felt bad for the cardboard fans. But it is what it is.”
So in other words … nope. Not much.
The Saints (9-2) weren’t apologizing for dancing on the grave the Broncos’ offense dug for itself. Or, if you like, the grave the NFL dug instead, given that New Orleans’ 31-3 rout at Empower Field went on as scheduled despite the home team having no healthy, active quarterbacks available.
Jeff Driskel tested positive for the coronavirus this past Thursday, and the prior contact of starter Drew Lock and backups Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles to Driskel earlier in the week also rendered them ineligible to play under the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols. The decision came down Saturday afternoon.
“It was a little weird,” Saints tailback Alvin Kamara said of the Broncos’ plight. “It was a weird day, a weird vibe to the game. But a win is a win.”
The closest thing to sympathy for the hosts came from Saints’ tailback Latavius Murray, who rambled for 124 yards. Murray after the game tipped his cap to Broncos emergency quarterback Kendall Hinton, a practice squad wide receiver and a former college quarterback at Wake Forest.
“I gave them a lot of credit to even have the confidence to step on the field and do what (Hinton) did,” Murray said of the Broncos wideout, who completed one pass in nine attempts and was picked off twice.
“I know it was tough for him. But I have a lot of respect for them. But it’s the kind of season that it’s been.”
The NFL’s decision not to delay the game didn’t just rub the Broncos’ faithful the wrong way. A gift-wrapped win for the Saints tightened New Orleans’ grip on the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, a scenario that irked fans of the Packers, Seahawks and Rams, all battling New Orleans for the top spot.
“Yeah, I don’t think ‘weird’ is the right word,” Payton said. “Look, everything about this season is unique. So we kind of tune out the things we can’t control.”
New Orleans quarterback Taysom Hill proved more empathetic, being a former college quarterback himself at BYU before taking snaps at tailback, wideout, tight end and on special teams as a pro.
Hill, who was making only his second NFL start behind center, said his directive from Payton “drastically changed” on Saturday when the Saints coaching staff found out the Broncos were going to have to field an offense without a natural quarterback.
“I think, going into the game, there was so much uncertainty; (we) didn’t know how this was going to play out,” said Hill, who threw for 78 yards and ran for 44 with two touchdowns on the ground. “Offensively, I’m not surprised that’s the way (the) game went.”
A stingy Saints defense that came in ranked fourth among NFL defenses in sack percentage and ninth in opponent scoring was going to prove a challenge, regardless of whether or not Lock was in the fold. But it was clear from the outset that New Orleans intended to crowd the box and dare somebody — anybody — from the Broncos to try and throw.
Knowing darn well that they couldn’t.
“It was kind of crazy,” said Saints linebacker Kwon Alexander, whose recovery of a fumbled exchange between wildcat quarterback Phillip Lindsay and center Lloyd Cushenberry late in the second quarter broke a weird contest wide open. “(We) knew they couldn’t do too much, especially (with Hinton) being a quarterback for just a game.”
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