Neither Sean Payton’s former team nor his current one is having the kind of success he generally is accustomed to.Payton and his Denver Broncos visit the New Orleans Saints, who Payton coached to nine playoff appearances and a Super Bowl title during his 15-season tenure, on Thursday night.Both teams are coming off losses. The Broncos (3-3) lost to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 23-16 last Sunday, ending a three-game winning streak. The Saints (2-4) fell to the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 51-27, their fourth consecutive loss under Dennis Allen, Payton’s former defensive coordinator who was promoted when Payton resigned after the 2021 season.Regardless of the teams’ records, this game was always going to be primarily about Payton’s return to New Orleans, where he arrived in 2006 as a well-regarded offensive assistant but untested head coach as the city was recovering from Hurricane Katrina.”It will be unique,” Payton said. “Certainly, there will be emotions going back there, but I do think that comes up quite a bit in our league with players and, in this case, certainly the amount of time I was there.”Payton said he understands that the Saints fans probably won’t have “a lot of flowers and warm fuzzies for yours truly,” which they certainly will have at halftime when former quarterback Drew Brees is recognized for his induction into the Saints Hall of Fame earlier in the day.Brees signed with the Saints as a free agent shortly after Payton was hired and went on to become one of the most prolific passers in NFL history before retiring a year before Payton resigned.Payton is in his second season with the Broncos, who finished 8-9 last season, and he’s trying to show that he can adapt the offense within which Brees thrived to fit rookie No. 1 draft choice Bo Nix. But Nix has the 34th-highest passer rating (73.7) and is 23rd in total yards (1,082) in the NFL.Most of Denver’s success so far has been because of its defense, which is ranked fourth in points per game (16) and yards per game (284.3).Allen’s defense, meanwhile, has slipped to last in average yards (395.8) and 23rd in points allowed (24.5).
