Cody Barton's big night pushes the Broncos' defense against the Saints

NEW ORLEANS – Cody Barton swears he thought another chance would come.

That's how good he felt on Thursday evening.

It was such an effort for the Broncos defense.

Barton had no good reason to think such a thing, but lo and behold, the football gods delivered.

The sixth-year linebacker missed a chance for his first career touchdown early in Denver's 33-10 win over the Saints at the Superdome when his scoop-and-score return was negated by an offsides penalty by DJ Jones.

No need to worry.

In the fourth quarter, nickel Ja'Quan McMillian sacked Saints' rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler and tossed the ball into the air and into Barton's waiting arms.

He overcame a tackle attempt by rookie left tackle Taliese Fuaga and had nothing but 50 yards of green grass in front of him.

“I said the whole game, 'I'm going to get it back.' “I’ll get it back,” Barton said. “And in the end it happened. You never know when it’s going to happen and you just have to be there when the opportunity arises and it happens quickly.”

Barton scored so easily that he rowed back the final 10 yards to clinch the win.

“I knew there was a lot of space,” he said. “One time the lineman missed me – I think (tight end Foster) Moreau was after me, but I knew there was room and I wanted to turn around and celebrate a little bit. First touchdown in the NFL, so I just wanted to soak it up, I guess, and I just had a little fun.”

The Broncos defense also had a lot of fun.

It gave New Orleans rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler six sacks and allowed just seven first downs in the first three quarters.

Seven players contributed to the sacks, with Barton, John Franklin-Myers, Justin Strnad, Ja'Quan McMillian and Nik Bonitto each logging one and Zach Allen and Jonah Elliss sharing the final sack.

Barton and McMillian each recorded their first score of the season, meaning Denver now has 12 different players with at least half a sack through the first seven games.

“The group is great and the cool thing is that the guys aren't like, 'I'm in it for myself,'” Allen said. “We want everyone to get it, and we have a very special group.

“Really, it’s a race for quarterback. You have to make sure you win, and win quickly, otherwise a guy like Bonitto or someone like that will beat you.

“The level is high and we just have to keep pushing.”

Bonitto has beaten every quarterback in each of the last five games. That sack streak, which he extended early in the fourth quarter on Thursday, is the second-longest in franchise history. He joins Von Miller as the only Broncos since 2015 to have a sack in at least five consecutive games. Miller won five straight twice and six straight in 2018. Bonitto will have a chance to reach that mark a week from Sunday against Carolina.