There is no way to sugarcoat. The Broncos matchup against the New Orleans Saints was immensely bizarre.
There were numerous storylines for this game that were overshadowed once it was announced that Denver would unprecedently be without all four of its active roster quarterbacks Saturday. Starter Drew Lock was coming off a bounce-back victory against the Miami Dolphins, head coach Vic Fangio was going head-to-head against the team where his career began, and Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay were primed for another successful game.
But all of that changed, understandably so, when it was confirmed that the Broncos’ starting quarterback was going to be Kendall Hinton — a wide receiver from their practice squad that played quarterback in college. Hinton was 1-for-9 and threw two interceptions, totaling 21 yards of offense for the sudden starter. His performance, combined with a 31-3 Denver loss, also overshadowed kicker Brandon McManus’ 58-yard field goal.
It was the longest of his career and his seventh 50-plus yard field goal made this season, a Broncos best and second-best in the NFL behind Miami’s Jason Sanders.
Denver has been blessed with two of the best kickers in recent memory. McManus and former Broncos kicker Matt Prater have led the way since 2007. Prater’s career-high, a 64-yard bomb in 2013, is the NFL record.
Denver also lost Lindsay to an injury heading into a rematch next week against the high-powered Kansas City Chiefs.
