If you’re looking for reasons why the Denver Broncos had success in the red zone against the Cincinnati Bengals last week that go beyond the sheer awfulness of the Bengals defense, receiver Courtland Sutton would be a good place to start. 

Sutton has simply become a red zone monster, as documented by Nick Kosmider of The Athletic, who focused on a touchdown pass from Bo Nix just before halftime that unofficially turned the game into a route. Sutton was sandwiched between two Bengals defenders, but somehow he was about to take the hit and hold onto the ball. 

“It’s going to hurt anyways, so you might as well make the play,” Sutton said Thursday. “It was one of those things where, when it comes to the game, sometimes I go up and, as I’m falling, I’m like, ‘Yeah, this is going to be one of those ones.'”

Sutton’s red zone performance is particularly impressive if you focus on the three seasons during which he’s played for coach Sean Payton. He’s caught 16 of 20 touchdown passes of 20 yards or less, a stat that’s only been succeeded by receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown of the Detroit Lions with 21 during the same stretch. 

“His traits relative to how he prepares are fantastic,” Payton said. “He’s strong with strong hands in traffic, and in the red zone, there is usually traffic. It favors certain players and there are other players it maybe doesn’t favor as much. He’s one of those guys where we’ve seen, a number of times, that it’s kind of covered with traffic, and yet he can high-point a ball and catch it properly.” 

Surprisingly, Sutton learned this part of his game on the basketball court in college at SMU. He was a practice player for Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, and Sutton was just 6’3” at the time. 

“I was having to muscle up 6-8 dudes to get any rebounds,” Sutton told a reporter before the NFL Draft in 2018. “The players were like, ‘Court, quit banging like that.’ I’d say, ‘Look, I’m six inches too short in here, I’ve gotta do something.'”

Sutton’s matchup on today won’t be easy, though. He’ll be up against Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, a second-year player who’s become one of the best shutdown corners in the game. Who comes out on top in their red zone battles could easily go a long way toward determining who wins the game.