Wide receiver Courtland Sutton had an incredible season in Denver this year, finishing with ten touchdown grabs and a ton of game-changing performances in some of the Broncos’ greatest victories. But even so, Sutton’s toe-touch snag versus Buffalo remains unmatched, and analyst Peter Schrager made sure to include the catch in his top ten list of the best plays from the regular season while he was creating it for a recent “Good Morning Football” segment.
Head coach Sean Payton decided to maintain offensive aggression in the second quarter of Denver’s Week 10 “Monday Night Football” game against the Buffalo Bills, who were ahead 3-0. He decided to go for a play-action pass on a fourth-and-2 in the Bills’ red zone.
Shaq Lawson, a pass rusher for Buffalo, almost sacked quarterback Russell Wilson, forcing a fumble on downs, and the play broke down early. Rather than clinging to Lawson, Wilson lofted a pass to the end zone, which Sutton intercepted while maintaining both feet in bounds. The play was reviewed for replay, and the referees changed it from an incomplete to a touchdown, giving the Broncos a bigger lead in a game they went on to win 24–22.
Sutton’s catch was rated by Schrager as the seventh-coolest play of the season, and he explained why the play was so exciting to watch.
“End of the first half, fourth-and-2, the courage to call this play — play action to Javonte [Williams],” remarked Schrager. “Russ Wilson is facing Shaq Lawson, but observe what Russ does.” He simply turns, and then Courtland Sutton appears from all the way over here. Take a look at this catch. Amazing.
“With the season on the line at that time, Denver was playing on the road in Buffalo at the end of the first half when Russell Wilson hit the perfect ball for a touchdown. After reviewing it, they declared it to be complete—touchdown.”
The sophisticated data support Schrager’s assertion. With 3.2 percent chance of completion, Sutton’s catch not only rates as the most unlikely completion of the season but the most unlikely completion in all of the seasons that Next Gen Stats has monitored the metric.
The catch was nothing new to Sutton. A few weeks prior, the seasoned wide receiver stunned Kansas City with a one-handed touchdown catch in the end zone’s corner. Following the Broncos’ victory over the Buffalo Bills, he stated that his incredible catches merited an extension of the play call.
“Well, I thought I was in,” Sutton replied. “They kind of attempted to play me like they did in Kansas City, but I recognized it. That’s just the way things are. They will eventually begin referring to them as touchdowns and then review them.”
