NEW ORLEANS — Cody Barton swears he thought another chance was coming.
That’s how good he felt Thursday night.
That’s the kind of outing it was for the Broncos defense.
Barton had no rational reason to think such things, but lo and behold, the football gods delivered.
The sixth-year linebacker lost a chance at 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 a D.J. Jones offsides penalty.
Not to worry.
In the fourth quarter, nickel Ja’Quan McMillian sacked Saints rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler and knocked the ball up into the air and into Barton’s waiting arms.
He stepped past a tackle attempt by rookie left tackle Taliese Fuaga and had nothing but 50 yards of green grass ahead.
“I was saying it the whole game: ‘I’m going to get it back. I’m going to get it back,’” Barton said. “And it ended up happening. You never know when it’s going to happen, and you’ve just got to be there when the opportunity presents itself, and it happens quick.”
Barton scored so easily that he backpedaled the final 10 yards to pay dirt.
“I knew there was a lot of space,” he said. “Once the lineman missed me — I think (tight end Foster) Moreau was after me, but I knew there was space and I wanted to turn around and celebrate a little. First NFL touchdown, so I just wanted to soak it in, I guess, and I was just kind of having some fun.”
The Broncos defense had plenty of fun, too.
It racked up six sacks on New Orleans rookie quarterback Spencer Rattler and allowed just seven first downs over the first three quarters.
Seven players got in on the sacks, with Barton, John Franklin-Myers, Justin Strnad, Ja’Quan McMillian and Nik Bonitto each logging one and Zach Allen and Jonah Elliss splitting the final sack.
Barton and McMillian each recorded their first of the season, giving Denver now 12 different players with at least half a sack through the first seven games.
“The group is awesome and the cool thing, too, is it’s not like ‘I’m in it for me,’ with the guys,” Allen said. “We want to see everybody get it, and we’ve got a really special group.
“Really, it’s a race to the quarterback. You’ve got to make sure you’re winning and winning fast or else a guy like Bonitto or someone like that is going to beat you there.
“The standard is high and we’ve just got to keep on pressing.”
Bonitto has beaten everybody to the quarterback in each of the past five games. That sack streak, which he extended early in the fourth quarter Thursday, is tied for 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 got five in a row twice and six straight in 2018. Bonitto will have a chance to match that mark a week from Sunday against Carolina.
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“I’m trying to think and the only guy I can remember having that kind of run is maybe Chandler (Jones) and Haason (Reddick) in Arizona. It’s a special thing and we’ve been saying he’s a special talent for a while,” Allen said.
“To see him put it all together — and you know, he’s doing a lot of good for us on first and second down; it’s not just the pass rush — I’m really proud of that guy.”
The defense as a whole continues to roll along. The Broncos have allowed one touchdown or fewer in four of seven games this year and Thursday night bounced back from a rough outing against the Los Angeles Chargers.
“This defense is fun. It’s aggressive and everyone has a chance to eat,” said Barton, who finished tied for the team high in tackles (eight), dropped an interception and also forced a fumble that ILB Kwon Alexander recovered. “Today it was kind of my day, and some of those bigger splash plays or whatever you want to call them came my way. If this game’s tomorrow, you don’t know who it’s going to be. That’s how this defense is, and it’s a lot of fun.”
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