NEW ORLEANS — The engine protested a bit starting up. A spark plug sputtered. The brakes squeaked on the way out of the driveway.
As far as final tune-ups go, the Broncos starters didn’t put together the smoothest outing Saturday in New Orleans on either side of the ball.
Vance Joseph’s defense gave up a pair of field goals to New Orleans, bringing their preseason total to a touchdown and two field goals allowed on four total possessions.
Sean Payton’s offense punted, stalled out in field goal range and was going nowhere again on a third drive until a personal foul on New Orleans bailed Bo Nix and company out to jumpstart a touchdown drive.
All of that will be a distant memory if the Broncos put together the kind of regular season they expect to. Time and again, it’s worth reminding that results in the preseason really, really, really don’t matter.
Since this team began offseason workouts back in April, one of head coach Sean Payton’s foremost messages to a group that he believes can contend for a Super Bowl has been that it cannot afford a start as slow as the past two seasons. The Broncos started 0-2 last year and 1-5 in Payton’s first season.
Time will tell on that. Middling preseason production doesn’t provide much data one way or another on whether either unit will struggle or come out humming against Tennessee on Sept. 7 or at Indianapolis on Sept. 14.
What is fair to say is that Payton thinks the Broncos’ run game will be markedly different this year, but it never really got going in the preseason. Nix is expected to take a big leap in Year 2. He never really found a sustained rhythm over two August outings, but did look sharp in joint practices against both San Francisco and Arizona.
Denver’s vaunted defense is expected to hit the ground running with decorated and experienced players at all three levels, but it hasn’t been a particularly impressive exhibition slate.
There are many perfectly justifiable reasons not to put much stock in preseason results.
It’s a time for experimentation, as All-Pro defensive tackle Zach Allen is fond of saying.
It’s a time to work through combinations and contingency plans.
It’s not a time for much game planning or showing more cards than you want to.
So while there’s no reason for overreaction to some ho-hum outings for the starters, it’s worth noting that the starting offense trotted back onto the field for a third series Saturday and ended up playing into the second quarter before Nix hit Courtland Sutton for a touchdown and the top group traded helmets for ballcaps.
Week 1 for Greenlaw. One of the Broncos’ prized free agent additions will play his first live reps in Week 1. Inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw didn’t get any preseason work after being held out of Saturday’s finale.
Greenlaw injured his quad this spring and missed the offseason program. Then he had scar tissue cause pain, Payton said earlier in camp, and hasn’t taken part in live work in any of the three preseason games or two joint practices.
Running back J.K. Dobbins, meanwhile, got a handful of snaps against San Francisco in Week 1 along with some joint practice work, but he didn’t get any work Saturday.
Bonitto held out. Broncos outside linebacker Nik Bonitto got back to practice in recent days but was not in uniform Saturday for the preseason finale.
Bonitto had a bone spur removed from his foot earlier this month and missed a week of practice, but was on the field Tuesday through Thursday for Denver.
McLaughlin out. Broncos running back Jaleel McLaughlin didn’t play Saturday as Payton thought he might. The third-year back and his fiancée welcomed their first child earlier in the week.
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