It would have made for quite a story if the Broncos were able to come up with a winning effort on Sunday against the Saints despite not having any quarterbacks available for the game, but there was no Hollywood ending in the cards this weekend.
The Broncos completed one pass, gained 112 yards of offense and got rolled over by the Saints in a 31-3 loss. That drops the Broncos to 4-7 on the season and leaves them with a shrinking chance of finding a path to the playoffs.
Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, and Blake Bortles were all ruled out because of their exposure to Jeff Driskel, who tested positive this week. The Broncos were left to run the Wildcat with running backs Phillip Lindsay, Royce Freeman, and Melvin Gordon while leaving the passing to practice squad call-up Kendall Hinton. Hinton was once a quarterback, but now plays receiver and went 1-of-9 for 13 yards and two interceptions.
Freeman, Gordon, and Lindsay ran 29 times for 101 yards, but Lindsay left with a knee injury and did not return. They’ll hope he and the quarterbacks are back next week, but playing the Chiefs will be no picnic at full strength.
The Saints weren’t too much more impressive in the passing game. Taysom Hill was 9-of-16 for 78 yards and an interception, but he ran for two scores and Latavius Murray ran for two others. Murray had 19 carries for 124 yards overall and the Saints remain in the top spot in the NFC with a 9-2 record.
They’ll be in Atlanta next weekend and their secondary should get a bit more to do against Matt Ryan.