NEW ORLEANS — Better get there quick.
Among the Broncos' pass rushers, that's a well-understood tenet.
"You've got to make sure you're winning, and you're winning fast, or else a guy like [Nik] Bonitto or somebody like that's going to beat you there," said Zach Allen after the Broncos' latest defensive masterclass.
In Thursday's 33-10 win over the Saints, the Broncos recorded six sacks — including a pair of strip-sacks — as they battered rookie Spencer Rattler in prime time.
Inside linebacker Cody Barton was first on the board Thursday, as he blitzed off the right edge of the line and jarred the ball loose from Rattler on New Orleans' second possession. The play set up a Broncos field goal, which gave Denver a 6-0 advantage in the first quarter.
In the second half, as Denver's offense put some distance between the two teams on the scoreboard, the barrage only intensified.
Rattler was sacked five times in the second half, including twice in a three-play sequence early in the fourth quarter. Later, after moving the ball to the Denver 34-yard line, Rattler was sacked for no gain and then pummeled by Ja'Quan McMillian on a corner blitz. The ball fell into Barton's arms, and the Denver defender raced the opposite direction for a 52-yard score.
"Being on this defense is fun," Barton said. "It's aggressive. Everyone has a chance to eat. Today, I feel like it was kind of my day. Some of those bigger splash plays came my way. If this game were tomorrow, you don't know who it is going to be. That's kind of how this defense is. It's a lot of fun just running around."
The pressure on the rookie came from all over, as seven different Broncos defenders recorded at least half of a sack on Thursday. Through seven games, 12 different Broncos have been credited with at least half of a sack.
"The group is awesome," Allen said. "The cool thing too is it's not like, 'Oh, I'm in it for me. I'm in it for me.' We genuinely want to see everyone get it. We've got a really special group, and really, it's a race to the quarterback."
Third-year outside linebacker Nik Bonitto (5.0 sacks) currently leads all Broncos defenders in quarterback takedowns, as he has recorded a sack in five consecutive games. Bonitto is the first Bronco since Von Miller in 2018 to post a sack streak of at least five games.
The pressure doesn't end there, though. Outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper (4.5), Allen (4), inside linebacker Justin Strnad (3) and defensive end John Franklin-Myers (3) have all recorded at least three sacks on the season.
"I thought we handled the run, and then we were able to get enough pressure," Head Coach Sean Payton said of Thursday's performance.
A week after allowing the Chargers to convert eight of their first 10 third-down attempts, the Broncos held the Saints to 5-of-17 on third downs. Denver also allowed just three points until the waning moments of the game, when Jake Haener threw a touchdown to shrink the Broncos' margin of victory.
As Denver's defenders celebrated a win, they were also clear that they expect to continue to uphold the same level of play.
"The standard's high," Allen said, "and we've just got to keep on pressing."
