Pat Surtain II: Broncos Were the 'More Physical Team' vs. Chiefs

Patrick Surtain II echoes his head coach's defiant rhetoric following the last-second loss at Arrowhead Stadium.

Nov 10, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins (8) runs with the ball against Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (2) during the first half at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

It's not just the presence of rising rookie quarterback Bo Nix that has dramatically changed how the Denver Broncos go about their business. In what could be a franchise-altering 2024 season, there's a lot more fight in this particular dog.

As a collective group, it's hard to ignore how physical have become, and that showed up against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday via a brutal pass rush. Toward the end of the contest at Arrowhead, the reigning Super Bowl champions were hanging onto the ropes for dear life. The Chiefs were reduced to looking for that haymaker to land.

While the scoreboard perhaps lied to the rest of the league on Sunday, Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II felt the message has been sent that his team is fully capable of forcing elite opposition onto the back foot, echoing head coach Sean Payton's defiant post-game message.

"On both sides of the ball. I felt like we were the more physical team," Surtain said post-game via ESPN's Jeff Legwold. "I bet if you was to ask them about the game, they would look at it the same way, too."

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Surtain is prepared to mix it up a little himself, but if we set aside the scuffles with Chiefs receiver DeAndre Hopkins, the Pro Bowl corner has always been a willing participant in the Broncos' aggressive gang tackling that's making this defense universally feared. Setting a much more physical tone became a constant message that Payton delivered to his team from the start of training camp this past summer.

Even in the losing cause, Payton could scarcely hide his delight that the "grit" he's worked so hard to cultivate in his group now shows up consistently.

"This team has been resilient," Payton said on Monday to reporters. "So, the sky isn't falling relative to our season... It's an entirely different team than a year ago. It's tough."

In fairness, it didn't take that much forethought from Payton to come to the conclusion that closing the gap on the teams above the Broncos, like the Chiefs, means punching back much harder than ever before. The Broncos allowed the Baltimore Ravens to strike first the week prior, but lessons were quickly learned and put into practice against the Chiefs, albeit in a losing cause.

Turning the tables on the long-time divisional bully will probably have to wait until next season, considering that Denver's home matchup with Kansas City isn't until Week 18, when the Chiefs will likely be resting starters, but on this much more balanced competitive landscape, you never know.

That's a fight for another time, but you get the distinct feeling that Mahomes and Co. fully understand they escaped with much less lunch money than they had previously. Far from being scared to walk across the schoolyard, Surtain and the new-look Broncos sound like they can't wait to plunge their teeth back into a wounded Chiefs animal.

"Just keep on building, keep on building," Surtain said. "It was right there."

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