Pat Surtain II is key to the Denver Broncos beating the Chiefs
Let’s have a little flashback to December 6, 2020, shall we?
The Denver Broncos went into Kansas City and lost a heart-breaker 16-22, and they did so with the following players playing snaps at the cornerback position:
- Michael Ojemudia
- AJ Bouye
- Essang Bassey
- Duke Dawson
It’s possible that literally none of those guys will play defensive snaps this time around against the Chiefs, and the Broncos’ secondary is obviously getting a huge boost in this particular matchup from Pat Surtain II alone.
Surtain is coming off of the best game of his young career thus far, picking off two passes against Justin Herbert and taking one for six.
Having Surtain in this matchup is crucial for the Denver Broncos. He is about as close as you’re going to find as “shut down” in today’s NFL, and the Broncos have also gotten really solid production this season out of Ronald Darby, who has yet to pick off a pass. Maybe that one is coming on Sunday…
Nickel cornerback Nate Hairston has also given the Broncos some really good snaps of late, but Surtain is the real difference-maker for Denver in this one. Matching him up against Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce throughout this game is going to be an absolute blast to watch.