Pat Surtain II Sends Message to Broncos CB Riley Moss After Bengals Torching

Denver Broncos cornerback Riley Moss got put through the grinder on Saturday after a month-long hiatus by the pass-happy Cincinnati Bengals. Calling it a rough day at the office would be an understatement.

Moss' struggles in coverage should have had a far more significant bearing on head coach Sean Payton's fateful decision to pass on a would-be game-winning two-point conversion at the end of regulation and play for overtime. Clinging onto the misguided belief that Moss and the porous Denver secondary could somehow hang with the imperious Joe Burrow, especially if the Broncos lost the coin toss in overtime, backfired spectacularly.

"Riley could have been healthy for the last eight weeks," Payton said post-game. Whoever's opposite Pat (Surtain II), they're going to go that direction, right? (No.) 5 (Tee Higgins) is a good player. A real good player. It wasn't anything that we didn't expect. In other words, that happens when you're teammates with Pat."

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That's not to say that the Broncos didn't try some different personnel packages early on in the game. Moss even spent some time on the sideline as the coaches frantically tried to work things out, but ultimately, there was no quick fix coming for the pass defense. Burrow would finish 39-of-49 for 412 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions.

In the build-up to this crucial game in Cincinnati, the groundswell was that Moss would make up for the secondary's recent deficiencies in pass coverage. The opposite played out as Burrow torched the Broncos defense.

Moss could easily have offered up some easy excuses that he was perhaps pitched back into battle too early or that he was rusty, but that's not in the young corner's uber-competitive DNA.

"Yeah, it's tough being out. I love playing football," Moss said of his three-game absence due to injury. "I love the sport of football, obviously. Like today, sometimes you eat a (poop) sandwich and you've got to own it. This isn't the first time that's happened in my career, and it's probably not going to be the last. The great ones are able to come back, be gritty, and push through, and that's what I'm going to do. I know everyone on this team will too."

Without Moss on the field, it's worth wondering how much worse Burrow's torching would have been. The Bengals finished with 499 total yards and without Moss tackling his rear end off (leading the team in Cincy with 14), the bleeding could have been much worse for the Broncos.

As massively deflating as the agonizing overtime defeat was, the Broncos win-and-in scenario now rolls onto their season finale against the No. 1-seeded Kansas City Chiefs. Ironically, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid might lend a hand by opting to rest a plethora of key starters to finish the regular season out.

Even so, Payton and defensive coordinator Vance Joseph now face major concerns over a passing defense that has plummeted into the NFL doldrums at precisely the worst possible time, as the rubber meets the road in December.

It's common knowledge that teams will pick on whoever lines up opposite Patrick Surtain II, but at least the NFL Defensive Player of the Year candidate feels his young teammate can bounce back strongly next week.

"'Next play' mentality. It's part of the game," Surtain said post-game. "(Defensive back is) a hard position at the end of the day, and sometimes it doesn't go in your favor. I tell him, 'Just keep going. Next play, next play.' I believe in him, we all believe in him. It's just one game. Next week, he's going to make a play, I'll tell you all."

There's much to unpack for the Broncos moving forward. Solving the problems will have to be done on the fly if the Broncos are going to avoid losing out and blowing their once-golden playoff chances entirely.

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