Patrick Surtain II details why the Denver Broncos can develop into a Super Bowl contender (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Patrick Surtain II is confident the Denver Broncos can emerge as Super Bowl contenders next season.
The Broncos are coming off of a surprise playoff appearance during the 2024 season, a year in which they snapped a nine-year postseason drought with rookie quarterback Bo Nix at the helm. Although Denver began last season with the second-youngest roster in the NFL, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year believes the team is primed to take the next step heading into 2025.
“Oh, for sure,” Surtain II said in a one-on-one interview with RG when asked if the Broncos can emerge as Super Bowl contenders. “I think any team is a contender. I feel like that's the topic that some people look at and say, 'Are the Broncos Super Bowl contenders?' I feel like we are contenders in our own right. I feel like we are building success and I think we are headed in the right direction for sure.”
Denver went 10-7 last season behind the strong play of the defensive unit (third in the NFL) and Nix, who posted one of the best rookie seasons of any quarterback in NFL history. The 2024 first-round draft pick ended the season with 33 total touchdowns with a 93.3 passer rating and 430 rushing yards.
Surtain II details what makes Nix so good and how he noticed the young quarterback's “confidence” grew with each passing week. Nix went through a 10-game stretch where he committed just two turnovers. Unsurprisingly, the Broncos went 7-3 during that time frame.
“He's a great teammate, a great person as well, a great leader,” said Surtain II of Nix.
“You could tell when he is on the field, he has great confidence that he possesses out there and it shines bright each and every Sunday.
“I saw him grow and grow each and every week,” Surtain II continued. "Just seeing his mechanics, just the way he goes about his business, and it's kind of rewarding knowing that you have a guy like that you work with each and every week. I'm looking forward to his success at the end of the day.”
The Broncos are having an active offseason, adding weapons for Nix in Pro Bowl tight end Evan Engram and wide receiver Trent Sherfield. Denver also added San Francisco 49ers standouts from the defensive side of the ball in linebacker Dre Greenlaw and Pro Bowl safety Talanoa Hufanga.
The hope is those veteran additions combined with the holdovers from last season's playoff team will lift the Broncos to the next level. As bright of a season as last year was for Denver, they struggled against playoff competition. When not including their Week 18 victory against a Kansas City Chiefs squad sitting their starters, they went 1-5 against postseason teams and 1-7 against squads with winning records.
“Obviously, you just don't wake up and say like, 'Okay, I want to be in the Super Bowl,'” said Surtain II. “Obviously there's work to put in before that. I think we have a great chance for sure. We're building up a team to reach — obviously in the playoffs — but even further.
“Like I said, we built this team up for the right reasons to reach that step,” Surtain II continued to say. “So we'll see. But I'm very optimistic about our future in reaching the Super Bowl.”
Although the Broncos were demolished by the Buffalo Bills, 31-7, in the wild card round, the experience itself of playing in the playoffs will only pay dividends for a young Denver squad that is way ahead of schedule as one of the rising teams in the NFL.
Head coach Sean Payton is one of the few members of the Broncos who doesn't lack playoff experience. The 61-year-old previously led the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl victory at the conclusion of the 2009 season and led the Saints to multiple playoff runs, advancing to the postseason on nine different occasions.
The 24-year-old cornerback says the biggest thing he's learned from Payton is that you have to be able to laugh at yourself. If you can't laugh at yourself, that means you can't take coaching or criticism.
“If you look at some of your faults, or you look at some of your mishaps, and you'd be so hard on yourself, but you take the time to laugh at yourself too, to understand 'I can learn from this,' but also just laugh about that sometimes,” said Surtain II. “You can be amused by some of the stuff that you do as well, too. That makes you even more confident as a player that a coach believes in you so much that you can take the time to laugh about some of the things that you missed on, but also be criticized on some of the things that you missed on too.”
Payton is Surtain II's third head coach since entering the NFL, with Vic Fangio and Nathaniel Hackett serving as his previous head coaches. For the first time in his young NFL career, Surtain had the same head coach in back-to-back seasons, and it obviously paid dividends considering the team's success and when also considering that Surtain II is coming off of a year in which he won the Defensive Player of the Year award.
“I think from that point forward, it is like you move on with confidence,” said Surtain II of Payton's advice to him.
“You move on without a burden on your shoulders. You could go out there and play at your full speed, not worried about making mistakes, but just to play freely and play at your own speed. When he said that, it really opened my eyes for sure.”
Surtain II was making his playoff debut — like many other Broncos players — in that game against the Bills. The learning experience from the game itself is that everything has to be “spot on” if the Broncos want to advance further in the playoffs and eventually develop into a Super Bowl-caliber squad.
“Everything's gotta be spot on,” said Surtain II. “The urgency, the attention to detail. You could feel the magnitude, the atmosphere of the playoffs. You realize this is playoff football. To get to that point again, it will be for sure the next step, no doubt. Now we know what it's like, but now it's about winning, and it's about consistency in that mark.”
DJ Siddiqi is a sports reporter who focuses on football, basketball and pro wrestling. He has covered some of the biggest sporting events, including the NBA Finals and Wrestlemania and often interviews high-profile athletes on a weekly basis. Siddiqi has interviewed the likes of Dan Marino, Emmitt Smith, Shaquille O'Neal, Tony Hawk and Giannis Antetokounmpo. His previous experience includes working as a lead NBA writer at CBS Sports and 247 Sports in addition to working as a beat reporter covering the NFL and the Denver Broncos at Bleacher Report. Follow Siddiqi for exclusive one-on-one interviews and analysis on key topics in sports
