Courtland Sutton is 29 long years old in this league, and has little time for cliches. Sure, Denver won on Sunday because of resilience. Sure, Denver won on Sunday because of fight. Sure, Denver won because of a no-quit mentality.
But Denver also won because its WR1 acknowledged impending defeat and didn’t let himself accept it. Down 14 points in the third quarter. Down 14 points in the third quarter to the defending champs. Down 14 points, in the third quarter, to the defending champs — on the road. He acknowledged this in the balance of a split-second moment, Sutton said postgame.
And he drove it away in a six-catch, 88-yard second half, as quarterback Bo Nix turned to his most trusted ally to key a season-turning Broncos comeback.
“It’s like, hey, am I gon’ fall into the human nature and say, ‘Dang, they got us?’” Sutton said postgame.
“Or, am I gonna say, ‘Nah, I got a whole bunch of guys around me that believe in what they’re capable of.’”
Sutton believed first. If D.J. Jones is the Broncos’ defensive stabilizer, Sutton is its offensive catalyst. He’s been the voice of reason since training camp, when Sean Payton told receivers to figure it out and Sutton took care of it. He was the voice of reason in the fourth quarter in the second half, as Sutton continued to pepper his second-year quarterback on the sideline with affirming turns of phrase, as Nix recalled postgame.
I’m there with you. You have my back. I’ve got yours.
“In that situation, it’s almost like, who wants the football?” Nix said postgame. “And Sutt wants the football.”
They have developed a special connection over the course of 1.5 seasons in Denver. Sutton went catchless last October in New Orleans, amid a dull start to Nix’s rookie year. Since then, he’s rounded into a true WR1 with 91 catches for 1,319 yards and nine touchdowns across his last 16 games.
The inevitability on third down, too, is even more stunning. The Broncos have converted 25 third downs through a 3-2 start, with up-and-down efficiency — 5 of 16 overall Sunday against the Eagles.
Sutton has converted 11 of them, or 44% of Denver’s total third-down looks.
In the fourth quarter, with the Broncos down a touchdown and Nix going through his reads at molasses-level speed for the better part of three quarters, Denver’s passing game needed a spark. Nix is never the type, as veteran wideout Trent Sherfield said, to believe he’s “out of the fight.” And Sutton was his trustiest spear across an early fourth-quarter drive.
Before Sutton even broke off his route on one first down, Nix hit him on a perfectly-placed back-shoulder ball. Four plays later, facing third-and-15 in Philadelphia territory and needing some magic after an offensive pass-interference call, Nix trotted to the line and saw an Eagles safety move from the boundary back into the middle of the field. This meant one thing.
“I knew he was throwing that ball to Sutton,” Payton said postgame, “on that third down.”
On a play that took instinct, Nix let a dig rip to Sutton, hoping simply for a good enough gain to get Denver into a fourth-and-manageable situation. Sutton caught the ball, cut back, and sped for 34 yards.
“When you complete it with Courtland,” Nix said postgame, “good things happen.”
It opened the floodgates for a touchdown strike to Evan Engram a play later, and capped off one of the most important drives of Nix’s young career: 5 for 5, 85 yards and a touchdown, all built from a receiver who didn’t fade and didn’t let his quarterback fade, either.
Nix’s defining trait is his passion. Time and time again, Sutton has seen him get “down on himself,” as the receiver put it postgame. Time and time again, Sutton has grounded him.
“I’m like, ‘Brother,’ like, I tell him all the time — ‘You don’t have to do it for yourself, but what can I do to be better for you?'” Sutton said. “‘For us?'”
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