Broncos Hoping Momentum From Week 7's Win Can 'Roll Over' to Chiefs
The Denver Broncos' improvements in Sunday's 19-17 win over the Green Bay Packers are bound to make already tricky trade decisions all the more difficult ahead of the deadline.
In particular, wide receiver Courtland Sutton's timely resurgence suggests to Broncos head coach Sean Payton that cutting bait for a lowball draft pick doesn't make that much sense. Sutton continued to prove that he's back as quarterback Russell Wilson's go-to clutch receiver, snagging six catches for 76 yards and a crucial touchdown.
Post-game, the Broncos veteran receiver was getting shine from all corners of the locker room, and not least from his head coach.
“Obviously, real big. He’s a big target. The touchdown he has is on third down, I believe,” Payton said of Sutton. “There’s a lot of confidence in his catch radius, and there are some matchups that get created when he’s on the field. Proud of him and he played extremely well.”
Mired in a 1-5 hole heading into Sunday's match-up, it's probably no real surprise that Payton turned to Sutton's veteran smarts once again. Having experienced a noticeable dip in Wilson's performance level last week in Kansas City, Payton needed fast answers.
Sutton's touchdown catch on Sunday was his fifth of the season, putting him just one more away from tying his career high set during his Pro Bowl campaign of 2019. His 11.3 yards-per-catch average in Payton's offense has led to just 351 yards, but he's still on track for a productive season.
Finding a way of getting Wilson back on the same page with Sutton was a smart move by Payton. The Broncos' signal-caller was more than happy to take advantage of Sutton's number being called early and often.
“We have a lot of guys who can do a lot of great things,” Wilson said post-game. “I think Courtland—he's been clutch. He made a huge down-the-field catch early in the game. He did a good job of winning a couple of times early and then late too, as well as the game went on. He's a consummate pro."
Wilson's belief in Sutton surely didn't go unnoticed by the Broncos coaching staff during it's game-planning for Green Bay. When the Broncos really needed a big scoring play, they schemed up a beauty to Sutton out of a bunch formation — a call Wilson greatly admired.
“That was great coaching— a good call by Coach. I wanted to get him isolated,” Wilson said. “Courtland did a good job of getting open there. I think the receivers did a good job too of helping him. I think the big thing is the guys up front giving me enough time to drop back and read it all out, go through my reads, and then hit Courtland for a huge touchdown which is another big moment.”
All last week, Payton referenced the importance of getting his key players like Sutton involved early in the action. On Sunday, the renewed commitment paid off handsomely, and Sutton was grateful for the opportunity to get into a rhythm.
“It was huge. To get a touch early in the game, get some juice, not only for myself but for the team—I know the guys look for me to go make plays,” Sutton said.
Next up, the Broncos will host the Kansas City Chiefs, who they haven't beaten since Week 2 of the 2015 season. Patrick Mahomes is undefeated vs. Denver.
Sutton sounds like a veteran who plans to harness the energy of Week 7's win and hopefully channel some explosiveness against the Chiefs.
“We want it to be the momentum to roll this over to next week," Sutton said. "We get to go see the Chiefs again, one week removed from playing them boys in a tough game on Thursday night. So trying to use this momentum to roll into this weekend. Go take care of business and get the ball rolling in the division games.”
Sunday marked Denver's second win of the season. The Broncos were unable to harness the momentum from Week 4's road win in Chicago, as the team lost the next two games. Time will tell if the Green Bay win will be any different.
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