NEW ORLEANS – To heck with eight to 10 plays, Sean Payton elected to double that Saturday with his offensive starters.

The Broncos coach had given the “eight to 10” figure Thursday but said it was not “etched in stone.” It turned out to indeed not be “etched” although Payton changed “stone” to “concrete” after his team defeated New Orleans 28-19 at the Superdome to conclude the preseason at 3-0.

With quarterback Bo Nix and most of the other offensive starters in for 19 plays in three series, that provided some much-needed momentum for the Broncos entering the Sept. 7 regular-season opener against Tennessee. On the 19th and final play, Nix threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton to put the Broncos up 10-6 early in the second quarter.

“It’s good to find the end zone and good to wrap up the preseason and win,’’ Nix said.

Broncos offensive starters got off to a shaky start in a 30-9 win at San Francisco two weeks ago in the preseason opener and against the Saints while not playing in a 27-7 win at Arizona last weekend. In their three series against the 49ers, they managed just one field goal and in the first two series Saturday they got just a field goal.

“It wasn’t etched in concrete,’’ Payton said of his play count for the offense. “You want to score and get out there, but I thought we did some good things.”

Nix completed 10 of 14 passes for 110 yards with a stellar passer rating of 118.2 before giving way to third-string quarterback Sam Ehlinger for the remainder of the game.

“It was pretty important, the opportunities to get back out there and get things back in line and keep things rolling,’’ Denver’s Troy Franklin, who started at receiver along with Sutton and Marvin Mims Jr., said of getting the offense going.

Sutton looked to be in midseason form with four passes for 83 yards, including the touchdown.

“He is a really great veteran,’’ Nix said. “To see him go out there and play that hard in a preseason game is really unique, I am happy for him. … Courtland did a great job of getting open and man-to-man (on the touchdown), so I saw him open and he had good enough space for me to throw it over there to him.”

While the passing attack got going, the running game didn’t when starters were in the game. In those three series, the Broncos had five attempts for just four yards. RJ Harvey started at running back and had three carries for four yards. But expected starter J.K. Dobbins, who didn’t have a preseason carry while playing only briefly in the opener, is in line to be ready for the regular season.

At least the Broncos ran much better in the second half. Leading the way was Audric Estime, who had eight carries for a team-high 45 yards and scored on a 5-yard touchdown to give Denver a 22-9 lead in the third quarter.

“I thought Audric did a good job in general,’’ Payton said of Estime, in a fight to make the 53-man roster when final cuts are made Tuesday.

Also competing to make the roster is Ehlinger. The Broncos will need to decide whether to keep two quarterbacks in Nix and backup Jarrett Stidham, who didn’t play Saturday, or three on the 53-man roster. If they keep two, they will risk not being able to get Ehlinger on the practice squad.

Ehlinger completed 22 of 31 passes for 198 yards and a touchdown for a passer rating of 85.1. He had one interception, when he rushed a short pass after a heavy rush, that was deflected into the arms of Quincy Riley.

“(Ehlinger) was great,’’ Payton said. “Our plan going in was going to be Sam after Bo. … I thought that Sam did a fantastic job. Some of his gifts are with his feet, his athleticism. There’s a little moxie and leadership to him.”

Ehlinger ran six times for 25 yards. He closed the scoring with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kyrese Rowan with 2:14 left in the game.

“Unfortunately, that’s not in my hands, and all I can control is my performance and how I am on a daily basis,’’ Ehlinger said of cutdown day approaching. “So however it works out, it works out.”

Nix called Ehlinger “a great teammate first and foremost” and said he “shows up to work like he’s the starter.” For Ehlinger, playing nearly three quarters almost felt like being a starter.

“It’s been a while since I’ve played in a game,’’ he said. “To be able to get a few drives and kind of get comfortable and see the defense, it was nice to get a little bit more time.”

Denver’s defense played two series, and gave up long field goals of 56 and 49 yards by Blake Grupe. The Broncos elected not to play inside linebacker Dre Greenlaw, who sat out the entire preseason after suffering a quad injury July 31 in practice, and outside linebacker Nik Bonitto, who recently had a procedure to remove a bone spur from his foot. But both Greenlaw and Bonitto practiced during the past week and are in line to be ready for the regular-season opener.

A Denver highlight on defense was rookie outside linebacker Que Robinson having a strip sack in the third quarter of Saints quarterback Tyler Slough, with inside linebacker Karene Reid recovering the fumble.

But the biggest highlight for the Broncos on Saturday was getting the starters on offense going.