Penalties aside, Broncos’ cornerback has been major contributor to Denver’s highly touted defense.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — It’s not so much the technique adjustments with his hands or vision challenging Riley Moss as a Broncos’ cornerback. It’s the red dot.

The laser pointer a mischievous teenager will flash at the movie screen that is amusing for a second, then after a minute tempts you to dump popcorn on the perpetrator’s head. It serves as a football metaphor for what NFL refs are accused of doing.

Moss has drawn 11 penalties this year, second only to the 13 flags against Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor. Moss’ penalties are far more damaging though, as he tops the league in penalty yards with 178.

Moss also leads the NFL with 10 coverage penalties – nine pass interference and an illegal contact – by a significant margin. Moss accepts responsibility for most of those penalties, but forgive him if not all. He crowds his opposing receiver at the line of scrimmage, fights during the get-off, tracks the speediest of pass catchers step-for-step.

But then, at the point of the catch, the battle for catch or breakup, Moss sometimes finds his competition is more than just the receiver.

“I’m in great position. A couple of them, the underthrown ball that they called, I was attached to the guy,’’ Moss said in an interview this week with 9NEWS for Broncos Game Day Live (9 a.m. Sunday), referring to the 47-yard penalty he drew in the Broncos’ previous game against the Chiefs that allowed quarterback Patrick Mahomes II to convert a third-and-20. “That’s a valid P.I. call. I just have to get my head around and play the ball.

“A couple can be kind of crazy. Jahdae (Barron’s) pick six one that I got called for across the field, I don’t know. Because it really didn’t affect the play. And I really wasn’t holding on too badly.

“But at the end of the day you’ve really got to be smart especially because I’m the red dot. They’re going to be, the refs are going to be focusing on me. That’s probably the biggest thing I’ve got to work on and change.”

The red dot. Football slang for the stripes targeting No. 21, the Broncos’ “other” cornerback who plays opposite standout Pat Surtain II.

“Yeah, no doubt,’’ Moss said. “That’s definitely one of the points for this week, the refs are going over what guys’ tendencies are and stuff. It’s probably something I’ve got to fix and turn around because they’re going to be looking for it.”


The penalties are unfortunate because they blur Moss’ otherwise tenacious contribution to the Vance Joseph-coordinated defense. All those sacks up front – Denver led the NFL with 63 last year and is on top again this year with 49 through 11 games – are due in large part to the coverage on the back end.

Moss leads the team with 10 pass breakups and is fourth with 52 tackles, an impressive total for a cornerback. His aggressiveness and hyper-energy, for better or worse, were forged in America’s heartland. More specifically, Moss grew up in Iowa, played his college ball at Iowa, is an Iowan through and through.

From the cornfields to the Rocky Mountains, Moss is still adjusting to life as a Denver-based cornerback, which he’s been since the Broncos selected him in the third round of the 2023 draft.

“It’s just like polar opposite,’’ Moss said of the two states connected by Nebraska by way of Interstate 80. “Iowa is your blue-collar, farm state. Everyone’s very prideful, though, of being from Iowa. That’s what I love most about being from Iowa is we’re all very proud.’’

Having said that, “There’s not that much to do in Iowa, I’m being honest with you. Especially now when it’s cold.”

His Midwest humility is not disguised. He’s had two particularly tough games in his past two seasons – game 16 last year at Cincinnati where Bengals’ quarterback Joe Burrow threw for 412 yards and three touchdowns on 39 of 49 passing, and the most recent 22-19 win against the Chiefs, in which Moss drew two pass interference penalties for 87 yards and an illegal contact penalty that wiped out Barron’s pick six.

Both times, Moss could feel the media gathered behind him as he finished up at his locker, turned around, and faced the inquisition by taking accountability. No ducking. No taking the clothes out of the locker and sliding over to the trainer’s room. Bring it on, guys.

“I think that’s just how I was raised with my parents,’’ Moss said. “They were always about it was important for me to fail, and important to not do it again. I’m glad they raised me that way. It’s OK to let our son get in a position where he’s going to fail because he’s going to learn from that failure.”


Few occupations in any endeavor must deal with failure more than an NFL cornerback. Even former Broncos’ cornerback Champ Bailey, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, had a tough time covering Chad Ochocinco one game in 2004. Even Surtain, the best cornerback in the game today, gets a pass caught on him from time to time.

“There’s a lot of different factors that you’ve got to play out in a split-second,’’ Moss said. “You have some of the fastest guys in the world running at you. You prepare and you kind of know what they’re doing as an offense but then it’s on you. And you have to stay on top, make sure you don’t give up a deep ball but you also have to stay attached if they sit down and run an intermediate route.

“So there’s a lot of different things that come along with playing corner which makes it difficult but it’s also why it’s rewarding and it’s a challenge and it’s fun and I enjoy it.”

The toughest receiver he’s faced?

“Great question,’’ Moss said, buying some time to think about it. “Tee Higgins was good. They didn’t have Joe Burrow so it was a little bit different.”

That leads back to Champ again. He would say it’s never about the toughest receiver. It’s the toughest quarterback AND receiver. They go together, like Carson Palmer and Ochocinco. Higgins was a tough cover when Burrow was his quarterback last year; not so much in game 4 this year when Burrow was hurt and Jake Browning was the Bengals’ quarterback.

When choosing the best receiver, the quarterback matters.

“It absolutely does,’’ Moss said. “People don’t understand that. I’d say CeeDee (Lamb) was solid. Yeah kind of a tossup.”

To help prepare for Deebo Samuel in this Sunday night’s game against the Commanders to be played in the shadows of our nation’s capital, Moss is wearing boxing gloves for a portion of practice this week. Aside for the thumb, there are no finger holes with boxing gloves.

“There’s no way you can grab,’’ Moss said. “It’s actually really beneficial.’’

All in all, Moss is an every-down player for one of the NFL’s best defenses that has largely carried the Broncos to an eight-game win streak as it enters the stretch run. The 9-2 Broncos are currently the No. 2 AFC playoff seed, a half game behind 10-2 New England. Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton, who has not been shy about proclaiming his team’s aspirations this year, has addressed the pursuit for the No. 1 playoff seed – which features a first-round playoff bye, then two home playoff games prior to Super Bowl 60 – with his players.


“It’s a six-game season right now,’’ Moss said. “It’s a race to win that 1 spot. It starts this week with the Commanders. Take it week-by-week and not look too far ahead even though we know what we have to do and we know what our goal is.”