The Lead
Ahead of each week's matchup, cornerback Pat Surtain II prepares to cover each opponent’s top receiver.
"It's something that I look forward to throughout the week," Surtain said.
And in Sunday's 26-7 win over the Buccaneers, it was easy to see why.
Surtain followed Tampa Bay's star wide receiver Mike Evans on 24 of 34 routes according to Next Gen Stats, and he only allowed one reception for 8 yards on one target as the nearest defender in coverage.
Evans was only targeted three total times on Sunday, after he combined for 12 targets, 103 receiving yards and two touchdowns in Tampa Bay's previous two games.
"Obviously, Mike, he's a great player," Surtain said after Sunday's win. "Just him and his body of work is pretty incredible, so matching up with a guy like that is pretty awesome. I just had to lock in on the details and make sure I limited him, not allowing him to get explosive [plays] down the field. I did my part there."
Surtain said one big reason for Sunday's success was the defense "played how [they] prepped during the week." And for Surtain, this preparation included very specific instruction from Head Coach Sean Payton.
"It's a good stretch of receivers," Payton said of Surtain's start to the season. "[Saints cornerback Marshon] Lattimore has always defended Evans well. So, we went and got 35 snaps of bump-and-run [coverage featuring] Lattimore and Evans, I put it in his hot folder, [we] talked about it on the plane and he responded. So, it was good."
Surtain has seemingly responded to all of his challenges so far this season, as he limited Seattle's DK Metcalf to just 29 receiving yards in Week 1 and Pittsburgh's George Pickens to just one reception for 16 yards in Week 2.
This success has caught the attention of cornerback Riley Moss who has played opposite Surtain through Denver's first three games. Moss also had a standout performance on Sunday, forcing a fumble that was recovered by safety Brandon Jones. And while Moss has been impressed with Surtain's shut-down coverage throughout the season, he was "absolutely not" surprised by the strong performance against Evans.
"It's a confidence booster for him," Moss said. "It's why we have him. He's the best in the league and he showed that today."
Denver now looks ahead to a matchup with the Jets, during which the Broncos will see another standout wide receiver in Garrett Wilson. As the team prepares for Sunday, the defense will look to have its preparation translate once again to on-field performance.
"I just feel like as a team, as a whole defensively, we did what we did," Surtain said Sunday. "We played how we prepped during the week, so [I'm] very excited for us."
