Pat Surtain II details how his pick-6 gave the Broncos a “momentum shift” against the Raiders

For those of a certain age, Denver Broncos Head coach Sean Payton compares quarterback Bo Nix to a fictional movie character Ferris Bueller was beautiful. To be fair, Sunday was a day full of beautiful things in the Mile High City under the perfect blue sky that matched beautifully with the 1977 throwback jerseys the team rocked against the great Las Vegas Raiders.

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

It was the turning point for the Broncos, who were on the verge of a 17-3 hole at the time. In fact, Payton knew the seismic gravity of Surtain's game and even portrayed it as a 10-point swing.

“There is no accelerating. He played a good game,” Payton said after the game after defeating the Raiders 34-18. “He made a really good play. The significance of the play is that it is a 10-point play because they will probably at least kick a field goal where it happened. That was a huge play for us.” At that point it was suddenly 10-7.

Given the Raiders' terrible eight-game winning streak, the importance of Surtain's pick-six was enormous. When it came to regaining the momentum the Broncos lost early, Surtain knew exactly how much it meant to flip the script the way he did.

“We felt like we needed that momentum going forward,” Surtain said after the game. “Obviously we were in a situation where we had to take advantage of the opportunities we could get. In that situation, I had to capitalize on it to make a play and I could just feel the momentum changing. You could see that in the team. “Playing so far and going forward, we've really felt the pace, the urgency to really increase the energy and really improve the game.

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

The officials' premature intervention throughout the season may have slowed Surtain down a bit so far. Seeing a flag flying behind his opportunistic return, the elite cover corner was a little worried that his scoring prowess might come back.

“The ball was in the air and my eyes got big; I thought, 'There's no way this is happening.' Then I caught the ball and saw full green grass and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s a touchdown.’ I didn’t look back,” Surtain said. “I saw a flag and said in my head, ‘No way, this isn’t happening now. I don't know if it's rigged or if someone's trying to ruin my game,' but I was just glad it happened.” (recorded). That moment was very special, seeing the excitement of the crowd after that play.

Nix admitted after the game that he enjoyed watching the John Hughes classic Ferris Bueller's day off that Payton was referring to him, so perhaps it was the perfect day to sit back and watch beautiful things unfold.

“That was huge. That was probably the deciding factor, a big stimulus,” said Nix during Surtain’s home visit. “I was sitting right there on the bench with (QBs coach) Davis (Webb) and the guys. (I) saw him catch it and the way their offense was set up, I didn't think anyone would make a tackle, so I just sat there and watched the whole thing from the Jumbotron and enjoyed it, that everyone was celebrating.”

As we learn more about this team, the two pillars of Surtain and Nix will be fundamental to whatever Payton and the Broncos build. Great players tend to perform in big moments, and as Ferris said back in 1986, “Only the meek get pinched; the brave survive.”

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