Sean Payton got just about everything he could want in his return to Caesars Superdome on Thursday night.

He had the opportunity to meet old friends and former players.

He received the game ball, which Denver Broncos owner Greg Penner then presented to him in the locker room.

And he earned a convincing 33-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints, the franchise he revived in his 16th season as head coach.

When that game ended, the lower bowl of the Dome was a sea of ​​orange as many Saints fans left the game early, scratching their heads and wondering what on earth had happened to the team that beat them to the game first two weeks of the game season.

This latest train wreck was painful to watch, especially considering who was driving the train and causing all the damage.

Payton, in his second season in Denver, is pointing in the right direction with his current team while his former team doesn't seem to be moving forward quickly.

“We’re building,” Payton said. “We'll find out. It's still a work in progress. It was a good move tonight.”

With the Saints it's the exact opposite.

Instead of building, they crumble.

Instead of figuring it out, they leave every game with far more questions than answers.

Instead of everything being a work in progress, things are regressing.

And instead of taking a good step, the Saints took a giant step back, their second in five days after a similar loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 51-27, on Sunday.

This was the fifth straight loss for the Saints, their longest losing streak since Payton's last season here in 2021.

As losses mounted, so did injuries, making it even more difficult for the Saints to climb out of the hole they now find themselves in.

You know you're unlucky when you suffer injuries to your top two receivers (Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed) on Sunday and your top two cornerbacks (Marshon Lattimore and Paulson Adebo) four days later.

Adebo (broken femur) is out for the season and Shaheed (right knee surgery) is likely too. Now add the rest of a long list of injuries that includes starters Derek Carr, Taysom Hill, Erik McCoy, Cesar Ruiz, Pete Werner and Will Harris.

“They (the Saints) are under arrest,” Payton said. “I told DA (Saints coach Dennis Allen) to get healthy because they have a good football team.”

At least that's what we thought when the season started.

Injuries are, of course, a part of the game in the NFL.

The opponents won't feel sorry for you anyway if the big injury hurts you.

“It’s just the business we’re in,” Payton said. “You just play. No one else outside the building cares. At the end of the day, they just want to see the end results.”

For the Saints, the results just weren’t there.

And injuries are no excuse for penalties, lost passes and missed tackles.

“We haven’t put a good football product on the field the last few weeks,” Allen said. “This has to be better. This needs to be improved. This is a results-oriented business. It's always been that way. I think everyone has the same frustration.”

It's not just about the Saints losing, but how they lose. Teams are destroying the Saints defense right now. The Broncos entered the game ranked 29th in the league in total yards per game. On Thursday night, they totaled 389 yards (225 on the ground and 164 through the air).

“We have a lot of tough questions to answer and ask ourselves,” Saints safety Tyrann Mathieu said.

Mathieu got to the heart of some of these questions.

Are we preparing properly?

Do we believe in our coaches?

Do we believe in the guys next to us?

The product the Saints put on the field in a span of three games in 10 days that was hard to watch says no.

They get a 10-day break before playing the Los Angeles Chargers and trying to change the story of this season.

Is that enough time to fix everything that's broken?

Time will tell.

But we know that the ten-day break will at least give the team some time to recover.

There are certainly a lot of wounds to lick after Thursday evening.