Hoping to rebound from their road loss to the Redskins, the Saints flew to Invesco Field at Mile High for a Week 3 interconference duel with the Denver Broncos. In the first quarter, New Orleans trailed early as Broncos QB Jay Cutler completed a 1-yard TD pass to TE Nate Jackson. The Saints answered with kicker Martín Gramática getting a 43-yard field goal. Denver replied with Cutler completing a 35-yard TD pass to WR Brandon Marshall. In the second quarter, New Orleans continued to struggle as Broncos LB Nate Webster returned a fumble 34 yards for a touchdown. The Saints started to rally as RB Pierre Thomas got a 5-yard TD run, while RB Reggie Bush got a 23-yard TD run. Denver answered with kicker Matt Prater getting a 27-yard field goal. New Orleans closed out the half with DE Charles Grant tackling RB Andre Hall in his endzone for a safety.
In the third quarter, the Broncos replied with RB Michael Pittman getting a 2-yard TD run. The Saints answered with QB Drew Brees completing a 6-yard TD pass to Bush, but Denver responded with Prater nailing a 34-yard field goal. In the fourth quarter, New Orleans tried to rally as Thomas got a 10-yard TD run (with a failed 2-point conversion). They even recovered a fumble and got into field goal position. However, Gramática's 43-yard attempt went wide right, ending any hope of a comeback.
With the loss, the Saints fell to 1–2.