Pat Surtain II Sounds Off on Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Sean Payton's arrival as head coach of the Denver Broncos has seen hopes for next season rise, but nobody is getting ahead of themselves just yet. Previous failed head-coaching hires still badly haunt Broncos Country, so many fans need solid proof that the team can compete before fully buying in.
Such a reality check is sobering, but it might not be such a bad thing, especially as Payton puts his soup-to-nuts retooling into motion. After all, the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs still sit atop the AFC West and will probably have their generational quarterback Patrick Mahomes at the helm for at least another decade.
Mahomes will be featured in Denver's recurring nightmares for the foreseeable future. However, the Broncos have a player who could make serious inroads into Mahomes' continued dominance in the form of All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II.
While Surtain probably isn't pinning a picture of Mahomes on his mirror for motivation, the young corner nevertheless remains fully aware of the QB's prodigious talents.
“When you are out there, you watch so much film on him—the throws they make are incredible,” Surtain said during an appearance on Good Morning Football last week. “You don’t know what he’s going to make next—he’s like a magician out there. But, when you are on the field with him, obviously playing against him, it’s like okay. I’m locked in. I’m dialed in. Until you see it live in action, it’s crazy.”
Surtain's first-hand experience of trying to defend against Mahomes re-emphasizes how challenging the next few years are going to be for Payton's Broncos. Mahomes can beat you one minute with his sheer physical prowess, and the next, he vanquishes you with his football brain.
Perhaps it's his baseball DNA, but Mahomes always knows the tendencies and core strengths of his opponents. Conclusive proof of that football IQ came when he critiqued Surtain as a rookie before the duo’s first match-up back in 2021.
“First off, he’s physically—I mean, he has all the talent you could possibly want,” Mahomes said in 2021. “He’s tall, he’s fast, he’s big, he’s physical, and then you can tell his dad was a player. You [can] tell those guys that they’re smart, they understand the game. Even for a rookie, he has a veteran mindset. He understands what they’re trying to do as a defense. He’s someone you definitely have to know where he’s at every single play and he’s getting better and better each and every week.”
Perhaps fans should just be happy to see two colossal talents square off twice a year for the next several years. Then again, Mahomes has a plethora of alternative weapons at his disposal if he opts to avoid Surtain's side of the field. The Chiefs are a talented offense.
If Coach Payton is to really get the job done in Denver, it's going to boil down to knocking Mahomes and the Chiefs off their lofty pedestal. The inherent difficulty is the fact that nobody has found the necessary kryptonite to steal away Mahomes' near-mystical superpowers quite yet.
Perhaps Payton, Surtain, and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph will crack the Mahomes code.
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