Pat Surtain II Sounds Off on How his Pick-6 Boosted Broncos vs. Raiders

The Denver Broncos' No. 1 cornerback took over Sunday's game vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.

Oct 6, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II (2) returns an interception for a touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders in the second quarter at Empower Field at Mile High. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

To those of a certain age, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton comparing quarterback Bo Nix to fictional movie character Ferris Bueller was beautiful. In fairness, Sunday was a day for beautiful things in the Mile High City under the perfect blue sky that gloriously matched the '77 Throwback uniforms the team rocked magnificently vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.

Broncos superstar cornerback Patrick Surtain II showed his knack for timing. Right on cue, he picked off an ill-advised pass from Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew and returned 100 yards to the house for the second-longest pick-six in Broncos history.

It was the vital turning point for the Broncos, who had been teetering on the brink of a 17-3 hole at the time. Indeed, Payton knew the seismic gravity of Surtain's play, and he even framed it as being a 10-point swing.

"There is no stepping on the gas. He made a good play," Payton said post-game after defeating the Raiders 34-18. "He made a real good play. The significance of the play is it is a 10-point play because they are probably, at a minimum, going to kick a field goal from where it happened at. That was a huge play for us. At that point, all of a sudden, now it is 10-7."

Framed within the wider context of snapping the Raiders' nasty eight-game winning streak, the importance of Surtain's pick-six was huge. As for wresting back the momentum the Broncos had lost early, Surtain intrinsically knew how much it meant to flip the script like he did.

"We felt like we needed that momentum moving forward," Surtain said post-game. "Obviously, we were in a situation where we had to capitalize on the opportunities we could get. That situation there, I had to capitalize on it to make a play and I could just feel the momentum shift. You could tell by the team that playing so far, moving forward, we really felt the tempo, the urgency to really up the energy and up the play for real." 

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The flustered Minshew gave Surtain every chance to do his thing to the tune of 100 yards and a score. Throwing the ball anywhere near the potential Defensive Player of the Year these days is the act of playing with fire.

The untimely intervention of the officials throughout the season has perhaps slowed Surtain to an extent thus far. So when he saw a flag loitering behind his opportunistic return, the elite cover corner was a little concerned that his scoring play might be coming back.

"The ball was in the air and my eyes got big; I was like, 'No way it's happening.' Then I caught the ball and I saw a full head of green grass and I was like, 'Yeah, that's a touchdown.' I did not look back," Surtain said. "I saw a flag and in my head, I said, 'No way, this is not happening right now. I don't know if it's rigged or if someone's trying to ruin my game,' but I was just happy that it got [picked up]. That moment was very special. Seeing the crowd uproar after that play was pretty special."

Nix admitted post-game that he enjoys watching the John Hughes classic Ferris Bueller's Day Off that Payton referenced with him in mind, so perhaps it was the perfect day for kicking back and watching beautiful things unfold.

"That was huge. That was probably the play of the game, a big momentum shifter," Nix said over Surtain's house call. "I was sitting right there with [QBs Coach] Davis [Webb] and the guys on the bench. [I] saw him catch it and kind of how their offense was set up, I didn't think anybody was going to make a tackle, so I kind of just stayed put, and watched it from the jumbotron and enjoyed everybody celebrating."

As we learn more about this team, the twin pillars of Surtain and Nix will be fundamental to everything Payton and the Broncos will build. Big players tend to step up in big moments, so as Ferris said back in '86, "Only the meek get pinched; the bold survive."

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