The plan had not been etched in concrete, Sean Payton emphasized. Yes, Denver’s head coach wanted to get his starters just eight to 10 plays against New Orleans two weeks ago. Yes, he wanted to score quickly and get off the field.
Didn’t happen. You know what they say about best-laid plans. It took Bo Nix and the Broncos offense three drives to get chugging, and All-Pro offensive guard Quinn Meinerz thus ended up playing 21 snaps rather than a handful.
Meinerz preferred it this way, though, because of the 305-pound task awaiting him in Week 1.