The Broncos knew the degree of difficulty going against New Orleans’ defense on Sunday was high and that was before all of the available quarterbacks were benched by the NFL office.

Against a Broncos’ offense led by wide receiver Kendall Hinton and Co., that tough defense became dominant, allowing only 112 yards in a 31-3 win.

Hinton and running backs Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman took the quarterback and/or direct snaps. The Saints were prepared for the run game and hemmed in every rusher. The Broncos had 33 attempts for 100 yards.

The key? Flooding the box.

According to The Denver Post’s game charting (not including Hinton’s scramble and the botched snap that resulted in a fumble) …

Six-man box: Six rushes for 52 yards (one “bad” rush — gain or one yard or fewer). Lindsay carried for 14 yards on the game’s second play and Freeman 23 yards on the game’s third-to-last snap.

Seven-man box: Eight rushes for 11 yards (six “bad” rushes). Gordon had an 11-yard carry.

Eight-man box: Seventeen rushes for 37 yards (eight “bad” rushes). Gordon had an 11-yard carry.

The Broncos declined to use fullback Jeremy Cox on any offensive snap to serve as the lead blocker role that helped Saints quarterback Taysom Hill gain 44 yards on 10 carries. The Broncos’ 15 “bad” rushes were a season-high. Center Lloyd Cushenberry was booked for three “bad” run plays.

Here is the rest of our Saints-Broncos review:

Offense

Playing time. Gordon led the skill position players (35), followed by receiver Tim Patrick (31), tight end Noah Fant (30), receiver KJ Hamler (28), Hinton (24) and receiver Jerry Jeudy (22).  Elijah Wilkinson replaced right tackle Demar Dotson at halftime and played 21 snaps, his first action since sustaining a leg injury against Tampa Bay in Week 3.

No answer for Jordan. It would have helped the Broncos’ make-shift offense had they blocked outstanding Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan. He shed Gordon to knock down Hinton on his first pass attempt. He dusted Gordon to help stop Hamler for a two-yard loss. And he beat Dotson for another knockdown. Also effective was defensive tackle Malcom Brown, who twice beat Cushenberry for two run “stuffs.”

Applying pressure. The Saints rushed five players on five of Hinton’s 11 drop-backs. He was sacked once (booked to Wilkinson 3.21 seconds) and knocked down four times. “Air”  yards for Hinton’s nine passes (not counting his throwaway) — 22, 22, six, 29, 16, 28, 0 and nine yards. The Broncos’ last pass attempt was Hinton’s interception with 10:04 left in the third quarter. They ran on their final 16 snaps.

Third down woes. The Broncos had no chance on third down because of their quarterback situation and nothing cooking on first and second downs. They were 1 of 10 on third down and needed an average of 7.7 yards. They failed to convert on third-and-3 (first series) and-1 (Cushenberry snap led to lost fumble). The only conversion was a seven-yard rush by Freeman on third-and-5.

Defense

Playing time. Safeties Justin Simmons and Kareem Jackson played all 64 snaps, followed by inside linebacker Alexander Johnson (63), cornerback A.J. Bouye (62) and inside linebacker Josey Jewell (55). Dre’Mont Jones led the linemen with 50. Cornerback Michael Ojemudia played 25 snaps in relief of Bryce Callahan (foot), his first action on defense since the Atlanta game. The Broncos played only two snaps of dime (six defensive backs).

Saints run wild. New Orleans rushed 44 times for 229 yards. The Saints had 17 rushes of at least five yards. The Broncos had eight run “stuffs” (gain or one or fewer yards not counting short-yardage/goal-line). Johnson led with 1 1/2 “stuffs.” The Saints had wide lanes to run and plays that were well-blocked, signaled by only one booked missed tackle (Jewell). The Broncos were simply getting blocked up. The first touchdown run (Hill one yard) was well-designed. The formation had two tight ends, one running back to the left and running back Alvin Kamara motioned from right to left. Hill coasted in around the right edge, where the Saints had five blockers for five defenders.

“Blowout Package.” Coach Vic Fangio unveiled the 4-3 front late in the blowout loss at Las Vegas and on five of the last six plays against New Orleans. Jewell comes off the field and a fourth linemen enters as a way to stem the run-game tide and to simply get to the finish line.

Two sacks for Walker. The Broncos rushed five or more on eight of Hill’s 22 drop-backs (36.4%), posting three sacks, one knockdown and five pressures for nine total disruptions. Defensive end DeMarcus Walker had two sacks — 3.22 seconds when he looped outside on a stunt and left tackle James Hurst was late to pick him up, and 5.90 seconds when he forced Hill to fumble (which gave him the sack). Outside linebacker Bradley Chubb’s sack was in 3.85 seconds when Jones’ pressure forced Hill into Chubb’s path.

Slow coverage day. It was a semi-uneventful day for the Broncos in coverage. Callahan was targeted twice (two three-yard catches by Michael Thomas) and Hill was 0 of 2 against Bouye (incompletion and pass break-up that led to Essang Bassey’s interception). Ojemudia had a pass break-up while playing zone coverage, when Chubb did a nice job traveling with tight end Jared Cook downfield in coverage, and allowed a 20-yard catch by Thomas. Ojemudia made a nice tackle on a lateral to Thomas (one-yard gain).

Special teams

McManus sets record. Kicker Brandon McManus was able to attempt and make a 58-yard field goal when the Broncos’ third-down play lost five yards (Hamler on end-around). It was McManus’ seventh make of at least 50 yards this year (franchise single-season record) and the seventh-longest field goal in team history. His two kickoffs were a 3.13-second designed pop-up that rolled into the end zone and a 4.15-second touchback.

Strong day for Martin. Sam Martin continued his strong punting by averaging 3.96 seconds on seven attempts (47.4 average/41.9 net) and one touchback. The Saints’ only return was 17 yards when Martin boomed a 55-yarder.