ENGLEWOOD – Von Miller has an idea how NFL fans watch a game involving their favorite team play.
Bronco fans, for instance, might see the opposing offense rolling, a first down here, a touchdown there.
The Broncos’ secondary is, at best, thin, leaving fans to exhort: “Come on, Von, just get in there!’’
Sacks still come for Von Miller, but they are so much harder than they used to be. Isolate on Miller now, and when he beats his offensive tackle, his pass rush is just getting started. He needs another move to get by the tight end or running back.
And with all due respect to Bradley Chubb, the Broncos’ other outside pass rusher who was the No. 5 overall draft pick, opponents aren’t nearly as worried about him, yet.
“When you start off in the National Football League and guys don’t really know about you and you’re getting sacks, it doesn’t matter if you have 18 sacks, they just let ‘em rush,’’ Miller said this week in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS. “But do it consistently – once you start making plays, this is the National Football League, teams are going to find ways to slow you down. It’s my job to stay consistent and not let them slow me down.’’
It helps explain why Miller’s career high is still 18.5 sacks, which he got in his second season of 2012, even if he is a much better all-around player now.
Broncos head coach Vance Joseph said this week that big-time players need to step up in big games.
The game Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs at Broncos Stadium at Mile High is as big as it gets for week 4.
Win, and the Broncos are 3-1 and serve notice they are a legitimate playoff contender. Lose and the Broncos will have lost their second in a row and fallen too far back to pose any serious threat to 4-0 Kansas City for the AFC West title.
The game is big and the Broncos don’t have a bigger star than Miller.
“It’s year eight,’’ he said. “I can feel it. I know I have a great moment in time and I have an opportunity to go out there and be great. That’s what drives me.’’
Perhaps, it would help if Miller played a little more than he did last week in Baltimore? More than in their first two games, the Broncos employed a four-man pass-rush rotation where Shaq Barrett and Shane Ray got considerably more snaps at the expense of Miller and Chubb.
Miller has bought in.
“We’ve got four great outside linebackers and we’ve got different packages to get these guys in,’’ Miller said. “We’ve got a NASCAR package where we get either Shaq or Shane in with me and Chubb. To get those guys more playing time, you’ve got to get the guys who are on the field out. I’m completely comfortable with those guys going in and making plays. Both of those guys would be starters on other teams. That’s just how it is.
“I would love to play more – and I will play more. We’re still trying to figure out the rotation. But the priority is to get Shaq and Shane reps.
“And it’s still early in the season. If these guys take reps away from me and Chubb, then over the course of the season it will keep us healthier as well. It’s our strategy that we have this season. We’ve tried it in the past but we’re really going for it this season.’’
Miller has now played long enough and well enough that opposing coaches and quarterbacks have begun bestowing him with predictions of a bronze bust and gold jacket.
“Nobody does it better than Von,’’ Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said in a conference call with the Denver media this week. “Von is a future Hall of Fame guy.’’
Heady stuff, but while Miller’s 87.5 sacks in a little more than seven seasons already has him tied for 48th on the NFL’s all-time list, he’s perhaps three more Von-like seasons away from becoming a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Maybe less, considering he already has a Super Bowl 50 MVP in the bank.
The Hall of Fame, though, is not on Von’s close-range radar. A more immediate goal is NFL Defensive Player of the Year. With 3.0 sacks and two forced fumbles in the opener and still tied for the league lead with 4.0 sacks entering week 4, Miller has a chance.
“It’s something that’s evaded me,’’ he said. “I’ve finished second twice (in 2012 and 2016). It’s something I really want to do. I’m very passionate about it and I go into games thinking about it every single game. With losses and not getting sacks like we did last week (at Baltimore), I feel that more than anybody. This week is a great test for us, a great challenge and I’m up for it, 100 percent.’’
This week is against the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, who threw three games has 13 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. Miller played half the snaps in the regular-season finale last year, a game that was otherwise known as Mahomes’ debut. Miller had a quarterback hit on Mahomes, but the Chiefs rallied for a 27-24 win.
“When we played him last year, honestly, I’m thinking, they’re playing the second-string quarterback, get him some reps, this should be easy,’’ Miller said. “I couldn’t have been more wrong. He’s a great quarterback, great talent. I think some of the stuff he did in our game? That’s some of the same stuff he’s doing now. He looks way more comfortable.
“Last year he didn’t have his playmakers in there. He didn’t have Tyreek (Hill) or (Travis) Kelce and Sammy Watkins of course, but now he’s got all those guys and he’s got a great offensive line as well. Kareem Hunt.’’
One of those offensive lineman is right tackle Mitchell Schwartz, the NFL’s only blocker who has played in more consecutive snaps than Broncos’ center Matt Paradis. Schwartz’ iron-man streak is into his seventh season – three more than Paradis’ run.
“Schwartz is the gold standard for tackles,’’ Miller said. “And not just for right tackles. He’s the gold standard for tackles – he plays every game. It doesn’t matter what pass rusher he goes against, he’s going to be solid. He was great in Cleveland and he’s even better in Kansas City.’’
This will be the first of only three primetime games the Broncos have on their schedule this year. Beat Schwartz a couple times and strip-sack Mahomes and Miller will leave award voters with another indelible memory.
“I’m my biggest critic,’’ Miller said. “It doesn’t matter how big the game is, it doesn’t matter how small the game is, I have a certain drive about it. It doesn’t matter what the score is, or what defense we’re in or what the offense is doing. I have a different agenda and I go out there each and every week and I try to accomplish that.’’
