Sean Payton embarrasses the old team, the New Orleans Saints are not making any progress quickly

NEW ORLEANS – The biggest storyline in Thursday night's game between the Broncos and Saints was the return of head coach Sean Payton to New Orleans.

Payton became one of the most successful head coaches of his generation largely because of the offense he led the Saints.

Now in his second season with the Broncos, it is Payton's team's defense that is largely responsible for its recent resurgence.

Head coaches are measured by the success of their entire team, not just the success of the unit for which they are primarily responsible. And Payton demonstrates the ability to lead a team to success in different ways.

He and the state of the two franchises he led are an example of how difficult it is to achieve sustained success in the NFL.

Payton, who retired from the Saints after the 2021 season, watched from the visitors' sidelines at Caesars Superdome for the first time as a head coach as Denver's defense stifled New Orleans' injury-plagued offense in a 33-10 victory.

The Broncos (4-3) won for the fourth time in five games and allowed an average of just 11 points in four wins. Even in their three losses, they only allowed 26, 13 and 23 points.

Denver didn't allow a touchdown until less than 90 seconds remained in Thursday's loss and limited the Saints' offense to 271 yards, nearly a third of which came after the visitors had taken a 30-point lead.

It was the dominance of one side. Catastrophe for the other person.

Payton hopes rookie No. 1 draft choice Bo Nix can eventually develop into the leader of an offense that can rival the one Drew Brees led for 15 seasons, as teams coached by Payton made nine playoff appearances and beyond New Orleans won the only Super Bowl in the 2009 season.

Meanwhile, the defense's play allows Payton to be patient with Nix.

Nix passed for just 164 yards against the Saints, but he added 75 rushing yards on 10 carries and Javonte Williams added two rushing touchdowns and 111 yards from scrimmage.

While Payton's offensive-minded team continues to improve thanks largely to its defense, Dennis Allen, who was promoted to replace Payton due to his success as Payton's defensive coordinator, has ironically seen his defense deteriorate.

At 2-5, Allen's team has lost five games in a row.

The Broncos finished the game with 225 rushing yards, four days after the Saints allowed 227 rushing yards (and 594 total yards) in a 51-27 home loss to Tampa Bay.

Denver settled for field goals from Wil Lutz four times, but that wasn't a problem as the New Orleans offense was never able to gain a foothold against the NFL's fourth-ranked defense.

Rookie Spencer Rattler, selected in the fifth round of the draft, started for the second straight game in place of the injured Derek Carr and completed 25 of 35 passes for 172 yards. He was missing his top two wide receivers, Chris Olave (concussion) and Rashid Shaheed, who underwent knee surgery on Thursday that will reportedly sideline him for the rest of the season, and was sacked five times behind a makeshift offensive line and lost two fumbles .

The result, incidentally, gave Payton a victory against the last of the 32 NFL teams that he had not previously defeated in his first attack on his former employer.

While his current team is rising in the AFC standings, his former team is sinking into the depths of the NFC.

A continuation of current trends means New Orleans would be looking for a new head coach for the second time in four years, after Payton held the position for 16 years.

And from the looks of it, Payton is just getting started in Denver.