Broncos CB Pat Surtain II helped turn a potential disaster into a defeat

Pat Surtain II saw the ball in the air and his eyes widened.

“There’s no way this is happening,” he thought to himself as he left Jakobi Meyers’ back pocket and made his move.

A 10th straight accurate throw from Las Vegas quarterback Gardner Minshew on Sunday afternoon at Empower Field and perhaps none of the celebrations that follow will materialize.

Maybe the Raiders will dance in the old blue replica end zone from 1977 once again and be back in full control of this rivalry.

Instead, the ball sailed, Surtain pounced and the Broncos celebrated.

The Broncos’ best player made the biggest play of the season, picking off Minshew at the goal line and racing 100 yards the other way for a touchdown that ultimately sealed the 34-18 victory.

Instead of perhaps trailing 17-3, Denver found itself tied midway through the second quarter thanks to the All-Pro cornerback.

“I caught the ball and saw a full field of green grass,” Surtain said. “That’s a touchdown.”

It wasn’t just that.

It turned the game on its head.

It triggered a landslide that buried the Broncos’ embarrassing eight-game losing streak against the Raiders under a pile of points.

It salvaged an alumni-filled throwback party to a weekend in Broncos Country that seemed headed for disaster.

A ninth straight loss to the Raiders? Not on this day.

The Broncos scored 34 straight points, starting with Surtain turning dominance out of nowhere.

It’s their first win in the rivalry since the Raiders made their home in Las Vegas, their third straight this season and the latest in a series powered by Vance Joseph’s dynamic, play-making defense.

“Pat has my vote for Defensive Player of the Year,” defensive lineman Zach Allen, himself playing the best football of his career, said after Surtain’s second career day with two interceptions.

“It was definitely a great game,” said head coach Sean Payton. “At least a 10-point game.”

Consider the structure to date. The Broncos did their best to introduce their throwback jerseys. They celebrated the Orange Crush defense in 1977. They welcomed Steve Foley and Riley Odoms to the team’s Ring of Fame and recognized the induction of Randy Gradishar into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. They included as many era-specific details as they could find, from the sidewall decorations to the end zone livery to the scoreboard graphics and soundtrack.

They also chose the right opponent, but had a small problem: the Raiders had won an incredible eight straight in this series.

Team president Damani Leech followed play-by-play man Dave Logan’s energetic lead at the pregame Ring of Fame ceremony and threw down the gauntlet.

“I’m glad Dave has already made this a PG-13 event, so I’ll just concede and admit that we’re trying to kick the Raiders’ ass today,” Leech said to cheers from the crowd.

With the exception of the first quarter plus, Minshew and the Raiders had the edge.

Just 2 minutes and 3 seconds into the game, he threw a 57-yard touchdown to rookie tight end Brock Bowers. Then Las Vegas scored 68 yards for a field goal. Then 64 more when he set up a first-and-goal from the 5-yard line midway through the second quarter.

At that moment, before Surtain’s pick-six, Minshew was 9 of 9 for 115 yards, the touchdown and two confusing first-down runs. In total, the Raiders ran twelve times for 87 yards.

They completed 21 offensive plays for 202 yards.

After the pick-six: Minshew went 3 of 8 for 22 yards, was picked again by cornerback Riley Moss and sacked twice. He went from a perfect passer rating early on to being benched in favor of Aidan O’Connell. Surtain also fended off O’Connell by capitalizing on a pass in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders mustered just 128 yards on their final 44 offensive snaps, and 72 of those came on a late drive when the Broncos already led by 24 yards. They had 10 first downs on their first three possessions and just three outside of the late touchdown drive the rest of the way.

“They did a good job (early),” Allen said of the Raiders. “They had seven on defense – basically they had one more than us on the first couple of third downs – but after that it was like, ‘Okay, we figured it out and made the adjustments.’ That was the cool thing about today. As an entire defense, we made some really good adjustments, passing game and running game, that ultimately paid off.”