ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Despite it all, Von Miller is a Pro Bowler.
“It’s great to be voted on by coaches, peers and the fans,’’ Miller said. “Especially during a down year like this, it’s pretty cool.”
Miller has but 7.0 sacks through 14 games (he missed one with a knee injury) after averaging 12.25 sacks through the first eight seasons of his career.
Worse, Miller’s Broncos will miss the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year. The last time Miller was in a postseason, he was terrorizing Tom Brady in the AFC Championship Game and league-MVP Cam Newton in Super Bowl 50.
Miller spoke with sadness following his team’s 23-3 loss at snowy Kansas City on Sunday. The reason why his postgame comments were open for interpretation, though, was he went big picture about the overall state of the team.
Specifically, Miller was at a loss to explain how the past three or four years have paled compared to his first five years in Denver, when the Broncos were perennial AFC West champion
It was an unusual take for Miller who usually sticks to the loss at hand and tries to splash sunshine even in the darkest times.
“I guess it’s just been all season, not only this season but last season and the season before that,’’ Miller said Thursday upon reflection of his comments. “It’s a gift and a curse to have had so much success like that and experience the Super Bowl and all types of players and all types of games to be where we’re at now. I was born in that age (five AFC West titles in his first five seasons from 2011-15), so that’s what I know.
“I don’t want to make it seem like I’m not part of the solution because I definitely want to be part of the solution to get us back to the golden days.”
Unlike the previous two years, when the Broncos went 5-11 and 6-10, Miller agrees there is a more positive vibe that this 5-9 team with coach Vic Fangio and a young nucleus of players is heading the correct direction.
“We are definitely trending forward,’’ he said. “In other years it was just me being optimistic and hoping, but the reality is that we do have a good team—rally around Drew Lock and Courtland Sutton and who knows what types of players we’ll [get] in the offseason. We’re just one or two players away, one or two plays and one or two games away from being where we need to be.”
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Sports
