November 25th 2024.
Courtland Sutton was feeling lost for words after the game against the Las Vegas Raiders. As he stood in front of the media, his smile spoke volumes. It was a big, knowing, competitive and relieved grin that conveyed the entire message - that this team is for real.
Sutton couldn't find the right words to describe the feeling of sweeping their hated division rivals for the first time in his career. But he didn't need to. His reaction said it all - this team believes in the rookie quarterback Bo Nix and they have put their past struggles behind them.
After the win, Sutton said, "The tide is turning." He caught eight passes for 97 yards and scored two second-half touchdowns, which helped secure the 29-19 victory. It was a tough game, uglier than the score indicated, but sweeter than anyone could put into words.
Head coach Sean Payton was proud of his team, saying, "The elite teams, 17 regular-season games, will be really ready-ready for 13 or 14 of those games and the ones they're not, they still find a way to win." He added, "Our team a year ago doesn't win this game. But this team did."
Payton believes this is due to their rookie quarterback, Bo Nix, who has been improving with every game. This time, it was clear that the Broncos won because of Nix. He showed great composure and handled the pressure from the Raiders defense, only getting sacked once in 44 drop-backs.
"It's all learning," Payton said. "You can only do so much in the simulator and then all of a sudden it's like, 'This is what happened today.' Both of us. They had a couple of corners out and so we go from expecting a lot of zone coverage to, here comes zero pressure. We made some plays in the second half with it and we made enough plays."
Nix's performance was impressive, making a free-charging Maxx Crosby miss multiple times and mitigating the impact of penalties with precise passes. He didn't let the early field goals and the first-half deficit affect his game, and instead worked with his coach to find the right tools to turn the game around.
Nix said, "It was a complete team win, very resilient from our guys. We just never lost that edge. We never lost faith on the sideline and we always figured we were going to find a way to win and that's just what marks a good team."
The Broncos have a strong defense and a reliable quarterback, which has been a winning formula for them this season. They have a 20-2 touchdown-turnover ratio and Nix has been sacked in just 4% of his drop-backs. This is a far cry from last year's team which went on a mid-season turnover bonanza.
Sutton said, "It's great to win these divisional games and do things that we haven't been able to do in a while here. It's good to be able to see the tide turn. Now it's upon us to keep it there. This division has been a tricky one for some years and it's on us to be able to find ways to turn that tide."
This team has their sights set on breaking their eight-year playoff drought, and with Nix and Sutton leading the way, they have a good chance of achieving that goal. And who knows, they might even have some individual records to celebrate as well. But for now, they are focused on taking it one game at a time and continuing their winning streak.
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