Without a sack in two losses, Miller says play must pick up
It all came so easy for Broncos pass rusher Von Miller in the seasonopening win over Seattle.
Miller’s tour de force included three sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.
“I’m like, ‘Man, I’m about to get 45 sacks this season. It’ll be easy,’” Miller said after practice Thursday.
Miller enters Sunday’s game at the New York Jets with four sacks, tied for sixthmost in the NFL. But as the Broncos have fallen back to .500 (22), Miller has been blanked in the last two games. Only three times in his eightyear career has Miller gone at least three consecutive games without a sack.
“I’ve got to get some sacks,” Miller said. “I’ve just got to play better. I’ve still got a long way to go (this season) and I feel like I can do that. We’ve got some bigtime games coming up and I need to be big in those.”
If Miller plays big, the Broncos play well. If Miller is occasionally invisible, the Broncos are in big trouble.
“It’s a tough league,” he said. “It’s just a lot of highs and a lot of lows. Everybody is going to experience them. You’ve got to be able to weather the storm. That’s what we’re doing now.”
The Broncos had six sacks in Week 1, but only four in Weeks 24. To help that cause, should Miller be playing more?
Miller has played 74.3 percent of the Broncos’ defensive snaps (202 of 272). Through four games last year, he played 210 of 244 snaps (86 percent).
“We want quality snaps from Von,” said coach Vance Joseph, explaining why Shaq Barrett and Shane Ray are seeing regular work. “If he feels he can’t give us his all, he comes off the field. We want him to play fast all the time.”
For the seasons of 201417, Miller played 91.0, 76.2, 81.3 and 85.7 percent of the defensive snaps. He is on pace this year for 808 snaps, 50 fewer than a year ago.
“It’s just different this year,” Miller said. “It’s not me and DeMarcus (Ware) and the noname guys behind (us) anymore. We’ve got bigtime players between me, (Bradley) Chubb, Shaq and Shane. You have to find ways to get Shaq and Shane in there. … On the positive side, there’s a better chance that we stay healthy throughout the season.”
Said defensive coordinator Joe Woods: “We have a good fourman rotation. Our whole plan is try and keep guys fresh so when we get into the fourth quarter, we can just keep rolling guys in there.”
A review of Miller’s snaps against Baltimore and Kansas City exhibited the challenges he faced against Baltimore and Kansas City:
•Miller played 49 snaps against the Ravens and 53 against the Chiefs and had only six “factor” plays, snaps when he made a tackle or had a quarterback pressure/ hit — three in each game. In Baltimore, all three factor plays were as a run defender. In the loss to Kansas City, his factor plays were a run tackle and two quarterback hits.
•In 60 total pass rushes (27 at Baltimore and 30 vs. Kansas City), Miller had no sacks, two hits (both on Patrick Mahomes) and two pressures (one in each game). In the first two games, Miller had four sacks, one hit and one pressure.
•Miller continues to primarily line up against the right tackle — 33 and 43 snaps, respectively, at left outside linebacker in the last two games. Although he looped inside to challenge a guard or center on a few rushes, the Broncos are mostly keeping him on the edge opposite of Chubb. •He was straight doubleteamed (no chip block) by two of fensive linemen just four times by Baltimore and once by Kansas City.
•Miller calls it a “changeup,” when he doesn’t get chipped. It happened only four times against the Ravens and three by the Chiefs.
In the previous seven years, he opened the season (not counting his 2013 suspension), Miller averaged 5.6 sacks in the first four games. He is well aware how much his return to form will help the Broncos.
“We’ve got great players,” Miller said. “We need to be more consistent and we’ve got to get to the quarterback. It’s that simple.”