Patrick Surtain II knows the Denver Broncos still have a lot to improve on.

The Broncos are 1-1 following their 29-28 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. It was a heartbreaking defeat considering Denver lost on a last-second field goal after a 15-yard penalty gave Indianapolis a second chance to win the game. The Colts initially missed the game-winning 60-yard field goal before a “leverage” penalty gave Indianapolis another opportunity.

Denver is allowing 20.5 points per game through the first two matchups of the season, a decline from the 18.3 points per game they allowed last season.

“I think the key to bouncing back is learning from your mistakes, learning from your failures,” says Surtain II in a one-on-one interview with RG. “It’s so early in the season that we still got a lot more room to improve on. We still should have won that game, even with the mental errors and the mental mistakes that we made. We gave ourselves a chance to win that game, and unfortunately, we came up short.”

Learning Curve

When asked his thoughts on the call by the referees, Surtain II watched the film after the game and says it’s “gut-wrenching” to lose that way, but that the Broncos are learning from it and making sure that it doesn’t happen again.

“I think the rule was, there was illegal touching at the line of scrimmage,” says Surtain II. “I don’t think you can touch the opposing player on his back while trying to have to block a field goal and off film you can see that. That’s something that we got to correct and work on. It’s obviously gut-wrenching to lose the game with that outcome just to be so short like that. We know we learned from it, we will correct it. We just work on the right habits in practice, so that won’t happen again.”

The Broncos don’t have time to fret over the loss as they prepare to travel to face the AFC West-leading Los Angeles Chargers (2-0). Even though it’s early in the season, Denver obviously doesn’t want to lose to Los Angeles, as they would basically fall three games back with the Chargers holding the tiebreaker.

“At the end of the day, we move on in Week 3,” says Surtain II. “Looking forward to getting more wins along the road. We just gotta sharpen our focus back, focus on this week ahead and get to it.”

Defensive Improvements

Denver’s defensive unit can obviously sharpen some things. They had a stellar Week 1 effort against the Tennessee Titans, stifling Cam Ward and the Titans’ offensive unit. Despite the Broncos losing the turnover battle four-to-two, Denver still emerged victorious and held the Titans to just 133 total yards (2.4 yards per play).

However, their play declined in Week 2 as they allowed Daniel Jones and the Colts to score on seven of nine offensive drives.

“I think all 11, just playing a role, doing their job,” says Surtain II on how they can play better defensively. “I think a great defense is players that does their specific role the right way. There’s some lapses in the game where some players on defense — including myself — we try to be superheroes and try to put that cape on and try to make a big-time play. That affects the whole scheme of the defense in ways. I think if all of us just do our job, be aligned and assigned, then we will win the majority of those battles.”

Surtain II detailed head coach Sean Payton’s message following the game, which is this: one game doesn’t define the team.

“He was just saying that it’s so early in the game, and he sees this team’s potential — one game doesn’t define us,” says Surtain II. “As much as he wanted to win that game, he mentioned that we shot ourselves in the foot too many times to give ourselves a chance to be comfortable to win the game. His whole standpoint is to make sure that we start off fast. I think we did start off fast, but to make sure that we don’t put ourselves in a hole, a deep enough hole that is so hard to overcome. That was the main point, that he was trying to get at.”

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year says the veteran head coach knows how to preach the right message and when to preach accountability.

Payton is one of the most successful active coaches in the NFL, ranking fourth with 180 career wins. He also won Super Bowl XLIV while coaching the New Orleans Saints.

“He knows a time and place where he’s going to show where players need to be accountable,” says Surtain II of Payton. “The unique thing about him is that he knows, from his perspective, that he also can take accountability on his end as a coach and as a player. That’s all you look to as a leader, as a coach, someone that will be able to understand what they did wrong and hold themselves accountable as well, too. He knows how great this team could be, and he expects his best players to show that way each and every week.”

Surtain II is releasing his new podcast with fellow Alabama Crimson Tide alum Terrion Arnold. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year and the Detroit Lions cornerback will release the first episode of their new show, “Closed on Sundays” on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all major platforms on Wednesday, Sep. 24.

The podcast will showcase the two players’ personalities in addition to giving fans behind-the-scenes stories, on-field perspectives as they go through their seasons, while also welcoming special guests. That means one can expect to see a lot of Crimson Tide alum along the way.

New episodes will be released every Wednesday.Â