Postgame Cold Snacks: In defeat, Courtland Sutton shows why he's a WR1

MINNEAPOLIS — A blown 20-point halftime lead in an eventual 27-23 loss to the Minnesota Vikings showed the Broncos that their offseason shopping list to upgrade the roster remains lengthy.

But Courtland Sutton has crossed the “WR1” item off of it.

Sunday marked the second-year receiver’s best all-around game, one in which he accumulated 161 yards from scrimmage: 113 on five receptions, 10 on two rushes and 38 on a daring, end-around pass out of the Wildcat formation that saw Phillip Lindsay hand him the ball to set up a perfect strike to Tim Patrick down the right seam.

“That was a lot of fun. I was looking forward to it all week. I’ve been talking about it a lot, telling [coaches] I can throw the ball and everything, and they finally put one in,” Sutton said.

With 805 yards so far this season, Sutton has more receiving yards through 10 games than any Bronco since Demaryius Thomas, who had 875 at this point in the 2015 season.

According to pro-football-reference.com, Sutton is also just the 10th wide receiver in franchise history to have at least 800 receiving yards in the first 10 games of a campaign, joining a who’s who of franchise pass-catching greats that includes Lionel Taylor, Steve Watson, Shannon Sharpe, Ed McCaffrey, Rod Smith (who did it twice), Brandon Marshall, Brandon Lloyd, Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas (who did it four times).

Further, Sutton has now averaged 80.3 yards per game since the Broncos traded Sanders — just 0.3 yards fewer than he averaged with Sanders on the other side. Increased attention from opposing schemes has not hindered Sutton’s productivity.

The question now is this: Can the Broncos find a WR2? Patrick made his case for the job Sunday.

PATRICK MAKES HIS PRESENCE KNOWN

Patrick’s return to action after nine weeks on injured reserve got off to a ragged start. He opened as one of two wide receivers as the Broncos used a two-receiver/two-tight end/one-back formation, but was called for illegal formation for covering up a tight end on the edge.

It got better from there. Much better, starting with the 38-yard catch on the wildcat/end-around from Sutton en route to a four-catch, 77-yard performance.

“That’s huge, and we all know that he can make that play. Anybody in our room would have made the play, but Tim made the play, and that’s all that matters,” Sutton said.

“The throw was OK, but Tim made the play,” Sutton added a moment later.

Patrick had a 29-yard catch down the left sideline from Brandon Allen in the third quarter to set up a field goal and a pair of receptions on the final drive, including a 6-yarder on fourth-and-6 that moved the chains on the snap after the two-minute warning.

Allen targeted Patrick three more times on that doomed final series, but Patrick caught only one. He felt like he could have had another — one that would have resulted in a game-winning touchdown — if not for Minnesota cornerback Trae Waynes.

“I don’t want to speak, because I’m not trying to get fined, honestly,” Patrick said. “But you see what happened. My whole helmet was on the side of my face. I couldn’t see the ball.

“They’ll swallow the flag [at the end of the game], but when it has something to do with me seeing the ball, you can’t swallow that.”

QUICK BITES

• The outcome of the game might have been different if Brandon McManus had hit a 43-yard attempt in the fourth quarter. But his right foot caught the ground, and the kick sailed wide right, keeping the Broncos’ lead at 23-20. After the Vikings’ subsequent touchdown drive to take the lead, Denver needed a touchdown, and not just a field goal, from its final drive.
• Shelby Harris notched two first-half sacks of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins, including one that jarred the football loose, allowing Alexander Johnson to recover with 2:40 left in the second quarter. Another sack after halftime brought his game total to 3.0 and his season total to 4.0 — all of which have come in the last five games.
• Dre’Mont Jones posted the first sack of his career, shaking free of Vikings guard Dakota Dozier to sack Cousins with 2:16 left in the third quarter. It forced the Vikings into third-and-14, but they converted it on a 20-yard Cousins pass to tight end Tyler Conklin.
• Garett Bolles was flagged for a holding infraction and a false-start penalty. The holding was offset by defensive holding against Minnesota cornerback Xavier Rhodes, which was his second penalty while in coverage against Sutton. Bolles now has 13 total penalties for the season — 11 for holding and two false starts.
• Minnesota won with at least 35 pass plays for the first time this season. The Vikings had been 0-2 this year when hitting that mark.
• Denver held Minnesota running back Dalvin Cook to a season-low 26 rushing yards and 57 yards from scrimmage, including 31 yards on five receptions.
• This was the 11th consecutive game in the Broncos-Vikings series decided by one score (eight or fewer points). Just one of the 15 games played by the teams in the regular season was decided by more than eight points, a 42-21 Broncos win at Mile High Stadium on Nov. 18, 1984.
• Minnesota never punted after halftime. The Vikings punted five times in the first half.