Surtain and Bonitto reflective at Super Bowl, ‘man we could’ve been here’

Denver Broncos defensive stars Pat Surtain II and Nik Bonitto know they were so close to playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday.

You can see it in their faces and hear it in their words.

Surtain and Bonitto sat down with Kay Adams on radio row, and Adams continued to prove she’s one of the best in the business for a reason.

Both Broncos defenders gave revealing answers about the 10-7 AFC Championship loss to the New England Patriots, including talking about having to go from Bo Nix to Jarrett Stidham at QB after Nix fractured his ankle in the divisional round.

I asked Pat Surtain & Nick Bonitto about their AFC heartbreak.

Not easy. @UpAndAdamsShow pic.twitter.com/xEa0Rq43GT

— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) February 3, 2026

“Obviously the stuff with Bo kind of hurt us,” Bonitto said. “But we were excited for the moment and it’s just one we felt kind of slipped us.”

No one was throwing Stidham under the bus, and rightfully so, he had a near impossible task not playing for nearly two years then being inserted in the AFC Title Game. But also with the defense only giving up 10 points, including seven that Stidham basically gifted the Patriots on a bad fumble, these guys feel the same way as a lot of the fans.

It’s a different game with Nix on the field and likely would’ve been a different outcome.

“It just feels weird in a way. You see all these Super Bowl signs and you start to reflect and be like, man we could’ve been here,” Surtain said. “Obviously when you’ve got a guy like Bo that goes down, there’s some affect toward that. But Stiddy did a great job preparing all week, the best he could.”

Both guys are clearly optimistic about the future, but you can tell this is one that’s going to sting for quite some time.

They were in the AFC Championship, at home, and came up three points short of a trip to the Super Bowl.

It’s good to see Surtain and Bonitto out in San Francisco, but obviously they’d much rather be there with the rest of their Broncos teammates, preparing to take on the Seattle Seahawks in just a few days.

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