MINNEAPOLIS — With the way Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton is playing, he might need to make “bro couldn’t guard me” his new catchphrase.

Sutton’s breakout sophomore season continued Sunday against the Vikings with five receptions for 113 yards. His performance was a bright spot in what turned out to be a sour day for the Broncos, who blew a 20-point halftime lead in the 27-23 loss.

In addition to his domination of Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes, Sutton also had a 38-yard pass completion on a trick play. It was another performance that indicated Sutton — who initially dropped “bro couldn’t guard me” after a big performance against the Colts’ Rock Ya-Sin in Week 8 — is becoming one of the league’s toughest wideouts to cover.

“He’s getting respect, and now he’s getting double-teamed and he’s still making big plays,” said fellow wideout Tim Patrick. “Once you’re still making plays when you’re getting double-teamed, you’re up there with the elite.”

Patrick was on the receiving end of Sutton’s 38-yard pass in the first quarter. The Broncos came out in the “Wildcat” formation, and Phillip Lindsay took the snap and tossed it to Sutton coming around on the reverse. Sutton, pressured in the backfield, then found Patrick down the seam

“I was looking forward to that call all week,” Sutton said. “I’ve been telling the coaches a lot, ‘Hey, I can throw the ball.’ They finally put (a play) in for me. The throw was just okay, but Tim made the play.”

Sutton’s pass was the highlight of a balanced effort from the wideout as he was targeted nine times. In the first quarter, en route to Denver’s first touchdown, he hauled in a contested catch for 48 yards, and then drew a 24-yard pass interference penalty on Rhodes two plays later.

In the second quarter, Sutton took a reverse around the end on 4th-and-1 deep in Minnesota territory and was met with resistance by several defenders, but kept his legs churning and extended the ball for the first down. Denver scored three plays later to go up 17-0, with Sutton clearly a centerpiece of the gameplan.

“Courtland’s tough to handle, and we thought we could get some balls to him in this game up the field and we did,” coach Vic Fangio said. “They gave him a lot of attention, too, but he’s a great player for us and (proved again) he’s one that we can build around.”

While the Broncos collapsed in the second half, Sutton kept balling. On Denver’s opening drive in the third quarter, Sutton was double covered on 3rd-and-3 but still hauled in a contested slant pass, moving the sticks for the Broncos as they would eventually tack on a field goal for a 20-7 lead.

And with Denver leading 23-20 in the early fourth quarter, Sutton broke off a perfectly executed double-move post route for a 43-yard gain into Minnesota territory. He stood up, spun the ball on the turf and beat his chest several times toward the loud U.S. Bank Stadium crowd of 66,883.

For Sutton, the pressurized environment makes him thrive.

“I feed off their energy, and I don’t look at it as them getting the home team hype; I see it as they have to get loud to stop us,” Sutton said. “It’s a lot of fun for me to go into a hostile environment and have success.”