Broncos' blowout of Saints featured 2 of QB's best friends: a great ground game and dominant defense

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — When Sean Payton was preparing to hand over his offense to a rookie quarterback for the first time in his 17 years as an NFL head coach, he said two essential ingredients for success were a good ground game and a stout defense.

Both showed up in the Broncos' 33-10 smackdown of the injury-riddled Saints in Payton's emotional and triumphant return to New Orleans on Thursday night.

“I think they said 22 guys that were with the Saints at some point as coaches or players, so for Sean and all those guys it’s awesome,” defensive end Zach Allen said. “It’s definitely something we’re all going to remember for a long time.”

Vance Joseph's defense collected six sacks, two takeaways and a defensive touchdown (another was negated by penalty), and the Broncos (4-3) rushed for a whopping 225 yards. That included 75 yards by quarterback Bo Nix, who shook off an awful game against the Chargers last week to direct six consecutive scoring drives, two touchdown runs by Javonte Williams and four field goals by former Saints kicker Wil Lutz.

“We’ve got to turn some of those field goals into touchdowns,” Nix said, “but it was good to get points early and move the ball early. We got a first down on the first play, and our defense played solid as always, so we played well overall and ran the ball for a lot of yards. That helps all the time.”

Williams led the way with 88 yards on 14 carries and had his first career two-touchdown game.

“Everything clicked for me and everything clicked for the team on offense and defense," Williams said. "It was a great game for us.”

Four times the Broncos have held their opponent to one touchdown or less and three times they’ve allowed 10 or fewer points.

“When everyone does their job, we really can do special things, and we’ve been saying that since OTAs,” Allen said. “We have three of them this year and last year the sky was falling apparently, so we’re in a good spot. There’s still work to do, but we have the guys in here that will do the right things.”

Nix knows the offense has some leaps to make, too.

“We’re going to continue to find ways to have explosive plays and move the ball like we did today,” he said. “We just have to go back and duplicate it as the weeks go on.”

The defense has been top-notch all season and on Thursday night, the Broncos held the Saints out of the end zone on 11 drives before surrendering a late touchdown.

Despite the blowout, there's plenty of room for improvement on offense. Although the Broncos scored on six straight drives, four of them were field goals by former Saints kicker Wil Lutz.

ILB Cody Barton. He tied for the team lead with eight stops, had a sack, a quarterback hit, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. He scored a touchdown and had another score negated by a penalty. Barton has worn the green dot on his helmet so he can call the defensive signals ever since Alex Singleton went on season-ending IR a month ago.

WR Courtland Sutton, only because he had zero targets Thursday night. Williams had three catches, giving him 23 on the season, two more than Sutton, the Broncos' top receiver. Following a protracted spring holdout, Sutton agreed in July to a revision that includes an additional $1.5 million in performance-based incentives. Last month, the Broncos converted $11.875 million of his $13 million salary into a bonus.

Star CB Patrick Surtain II is expected to emerge from concussion protocol next week.

28 — sacks by the Broncos, which lead the league.

5 — consecutive games with at least one sack for Nik Bonitto.

4 — sacks by Zach Allen, one shy of last year's total in 17 games.

1 — game ball presented to Payton by team owner Greg Penner.

The Broncos host the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 27.

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Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix scrambles up field during the first half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix scrambles up field during the second half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Denver Broncos running back Javonte Williams (33) runs from New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor (1) during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

New Orleans Saints quarterback Spencer Rattler (18) is sacked by Denver Broncos defensive end John Franklin-Myers during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Denver Broncos linebacker Cody Barton (55) celebrates with teammates after returning a fumble for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton walks off the field after an NFL football game against the New Orleans Saints, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New Orleans. The Broncos won 33-10. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

With the Nov. 5 election fast approaching, Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are setting their sights on the key battleground state of Michigan on Friday.

The vice president is beginning her day in Grand Rapids before holding events in Lansing and Oakland County, northwest of Detroit.

The former president has his own event in Oakland County in the afternoon before an evening rally in Detroit.

Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

Here’s the latest:

Michigan’s Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer stumped for Harris in Grand Rapids, appearing with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. The three have been campaigning for Harris and Walz on a “Blue Wall bus tour.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore also joined Whitmer on stage.

“We need strong, stable partners in the White House who have our backs,” Whitmer said.

Trump has courted auto manufacturing workers in Michigan, a key voting bloc, especially in the Detroit area. Whitmer attacked the Trump administration's record on the industry as “broken promises.”

The crowd interrupted during Whitmer’s speech to chant “Big Gretch,” Whitmer’s state nickname.

On Thursday, a protester confronted Vice President Kamala Harris during a closed-door meeting with students at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, based on a video posted by a pro-Palestinian student group on social media.

Harris did not allow reporters into her meeting on the Milwaukee campus.

According to the video, as Harris was telling students she was invested in them a protester interrupted her saying, “And in genocide, right? Billions of dollars in genocide?”

Harris told the protester that she wanted a cease-fire. She then said that while she respected the protester’s right to speak she was speaking.

University police escorted the person from the room as he continued recording.

The Harris motorcade drove past pro-Palestinian protesters on campus before the meeting in a university building.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris says Republican Donald Trump is unfit for office.

“He is unstable, and frankly, is a danger to our democracy as has been described by his former chief of staff, secretaries of defense, national security adviser and former vice president,” she told reporters before a rally in Michigan.

When asked about a Politico report that said Trump had declined some interviews in part because he was “exhausted” from campaigning, Harris said, “Being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world and we really do need to ask: If he’s exhausted on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?”

Harris and her campaign have increasingly cast her rival as “increasingly unstable” in recent public appearances.

Trump next week is set to visit Asheville, the mountainous North Carolina town where many still lack electricity and running water in the wake of Hurricane Helene.

Trump’s campaign said Friday that the GOP nominee would give remarks to the press in Asheville on Monday, along with several other events planned in North Carolina.

Concerns have abounded about how voting would work this year in the southern battleground state as residents from the mountainous western portion of the state continued to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene. But on Friday, the State Board of Elections said that more North Carolina residents had turned out to cast ballots a day earlier, on the first day of early voting this year, than in 2020.

Trump has campaigned steadily in eastern North Carolina in recent weeks but hasn’t yet visited areas ravaged by Helene, although he did meet with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to gauge storm response in that state. Earlier this month, with many of the area’s roads inaccessible, Biden surveyed the storm’s aftermath in the Asheville area by helicopter.

A top campaign official for Kamala Harris said the Democratic presidential nominee is focused on seven swing states and “we are going to fight for every vote.”

In an interview with CNN’s Inside Politics Friday, David Plouffe said they believe the November election will come down to small margins in Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia and North Carolina and “Kamala Harris has a pathway” to win in each.

Plouffe said the campaign is treating every different voting bloc “like they’re a swing voter.”

He said he believes voters don’t want four more years of Donald Trump.

Music star Usher will join Kamala Harris at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, her campaign announced on Friday.

He will speak at the event — no word if he’ll perform any of his hit songs like “DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love” or “Love In This Club.”

Harris is heading to Georgia for part of the weekend as early voting begins in the battleground state.

Perhaps in a move to instill joy back into her message again, Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to speak outside a “fall fest” in Grand Rapids, Michigan, hosted by the campaign. Thousands waited in long security lines to get into the rally at a park by the Grand River with food trucks, free donuts and pumpkins to decorate.

Mary Muller, 70, and Kathi Padula, 77, said the high stakes of the election motivated them to attend the first political rally of their lives. The two Grand Rapids residents volunteer with the Democratic party in Kent County, a major target within Michigan for Harris and Trump.

“I think Kamala Harris embodies everything that I’m looking for as far as having the experience, the wisdom, the dignity, the caring,” Muller said. “I love the fact that she seems to be a very joyful, caring person yet she’s very smart.”

Marnie Becker-Baratta, 32, attended the rally with the youngest two of her four children. While speaking at a pumpkin decorating table, she said she wanted her kids to see “history happen,” with Harris, who would be the first woman to hold the office of president of the United States if elected.

Becker-Baratta’s kids motivate her to vote and be politically active.

“I don’t want to see their rights taken away,” she said. “My oldest daughter identifies as trans.”

Former President Donald Trump said on Friday that rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are being treated like Japanese Americans who were incarcerated on U.S. soil during World War II.

“Why are they still being held? Nobody’s ever been treated like this,” he said in an interview with conservative commentator Dan Bongino. “Maybe the Japanese during Second World War, frankly. They were held, too.”

Trump made the comments after claiming the defendants “won in the Supreme Court.” His reference concerns a ruling from this past June that limited a federal obstruction law that had been used to charge hundreds of Capitol riot defendants as well as the former president himself.

The justices, in a 6-3 opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, held that the charge of obstructing an official proceeding must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents.

The overwhelming majority of the approximately 1,000 people who have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to Capitol riot-related federal crimes were not charged with obstruction and will not be affected by the outcome.

Martin Luther King III, the son of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., said on Friday said: “We must never forget our vote is our voice” while endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for the nation's top executive.

Martin Luther King III, his wife Arndrea Waters King and other community leaders are working to rally Black voters ahead of the 2024 election, warning about civil rights should Trump win.

King said Republican Donald Trump is who he has “always been — a man willing to hurt others for his own profit and notoriety.”

Donald Trump is expected to visit a new campaign office in one of the nation’s only Muslim-majority cities.

That’s according to a person familiar with Trump’s schedule who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the event hasn’t been publicly announced.

The visit to Hamtramck, located in metro Detroit, comes after the city’s mayor endorsed him last month.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has tried to cut into Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ support with Arab Americans in Michigan. Many Muslim and Arab voters are frustrated with Harris over the U.S. backing of Israel’s offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, both following Hamas’ attack on Israel last October.

Trump’s allies have held meetings for months with community leaders in Michigan, which is a critical swing state in the November election and has a sizable population of Arab Americans particularly in and around Detroit.

—From Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan

Former President Donald Trump says he wasn’t a fan of many of the jokes he told at last night’s Al Smith charity dinner.

“For the most part, I didn’t like any of them,” he said in a live appearance on “Fox & Friends” Friday morning.

Trump said a number of people had helped him with material, including some from Fox — though he didn’t say whom.

Trump made a similar aside midspeech after a particularly pointed joke targeting Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris.

He seemed to acknowledge he’d gone too far, calling the joke “nasty” and saying he’d told the “idiots” who’d written it that it was “too tough.”

He also said during the speech that he’d gone “overboard” in his 2016 appearance at the event when he laced into his then-rival Hillary Clinton.

Trump says he’ll “do what I have to do” to drum up support from one of his former GOP primary rivals, Nikki Haley.

Trump gave that response Friday during a live appearance on “Fox & Friends” when asked if he would seek the former South Carolina governor’s support on the campaigning trail in the election’s closing days.

Trump said Haley “is helping us already” and “is out campaigning” but questioned why political watchers seemed so concerned that she and not other former rivals, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, stump for him.

Harris has been courting some of Haley’s former supporters in the closing days of the general election campaign.

Haley, who also served as Trump’s United Nations ambassador, was the last foe remaining against Trump in the Republican primary earlier this year, shuttering her campaign after the former president’s romp through the Super Tuesday contests. She didn’t immediately endorse him in the race but said in May she’d vote for him, leaving it up to the former president to work toward winning over support from her backers.

Haley called for GOP unity around Trump in a speech at this summer’s Republican National Convention.

Grammy Award winning singer Marc Anthony in a new TV ad for Harris is lambasting Trump for blocking disaster relief for Puerto Rico after a 2017 hurricane devastated the U.S. territory.

The ad released Friday and aimed at Latino voters includes footage of the ravaged island following Hurricane Maria and Trump tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd during a visit to an island church following a hurricane, behavior from the then-president that was derided by some as disrespectful.

“Even though some have forgotten, I remember what it was like when Trump was president,” said Anthony, who is of Puerto Rican descent. “I remember what he did and he said about Puerto Rico, our people.”

Trump publicly feuded with the mayor of San Juan over her criticism of his administration’s response to the storm that killed 3,000 and withheld billions in congressionally approved aid to Puerto Rico. He eventually relented and announced less than 50 days before his losing 2020 reelection bid that he was releasing $13 billion in aid. At the time, he declared himself the “best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.”

The Harris campaign said that the ad will air on the popular Spanish-language Telemundo and WAPA America TV, during this Sunday’s coverage of the 2024 Billboard Latin Music Awards and in Pennsylvania on Telemundo and Univision.

Latino voters have historically favored Democrats, but Republicans have made inroads with the group in recent years.

Residents of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory of more than 3 million people, cannot vote in the general election. But there are more people of Puerto Rican descent on the mainland than on the island, and they could play a key role in the Nov. 5 vote.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign rally at the Resch Expo in Green Bay, Wis., Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of N.Y., listens at the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump gestures as he departs the 79th annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)