MILLER PROVES HE’S BEST
MVP will be paid after money performance
Von Miller blew around Carolina Panthers right tackle Mike Remmers, and Cam Newton couldn’t feel him coming. That Miller walloped Newton from his blind side was one thing, but it was what happened next that showed why Miller is the NFL’s next major defensive star.
Miller wrestled the ball out of Newton’s arms, springing it free and rolling it toward the end zone, where teammate Malik Jackson corralled it for a touchdown.
That play showed the speed, power and swagger that epitomized the Denver Broncos defense all season.
But no one was more important to it, or to Denver’s defensive effort in its 24-10 win against the Panthers in Super Bowl 50, than Miller, the Broncos’ dirty-dancing, fur hat-wearing, bespectacled sack master, who now can add Super Bowl MVP to his résumé.
Miller finished Super Bowl 50 with 21⁄ sacks, two that resulted in fumbles, and six total tackles.
“We have been working for two years,” Miller said. “Me and my teammates and all my guys. This is what you work for.”
He craved this matchup vs. Newton, the only player drafted ahead of him in 2011. Although Miller was diplomatic leading up to Super Bowl 50 about his respect for Newton — that respect seems genuine — he so wanted to have his biggest game on the NFL’s grandest stage.
He did Newton’s signature dance, the dab, over Newton after that epic strip sack.
Miller has a reputation as one of the NFL’s elite defensive players — 60 sacks in his first five seasons, despite missing seven games in 2013 because of suspension and injury. This postseason has been his coming-out party, and Miller is about to cash in.
In playoff games against the New England Patriots — he had 21⁄ sacks and an interception — and the Super Bowl, Miller showed why the Broncos will have to give him a contract in excess of $100 million.
Miller is a true linebacker (he played outside linebacker in the Broncos’ old 4-3 scheme and here in Wade Phillips’ 3-4) and is asked to drop back in pass coverage or play run defense on the edge as much as he’s sent chasing quarterbacks. In the AFC Championship Game, his interception came as he dropped back into a zone to cover Rob Gronkowski. In the Super Bowl, he was sent deep to cover wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery on a post route.
And Phillips chose to use Miller early in the game to spy elusive Newton to try to slow the Panthers’ option offense.
“Peyton (Manning) and DeMarcus (Ware) and Coach Phillips and all the guys that have been deserving their whole, whole career, I did this for them,” Miller said. “I put my neck on the line for those guys.”
Miller had another strip-sack in the fourth quarter to up the Broncos’ only offensive touchdown. It was a fitting end.
But for Miller, it could only be the beginning.
He heads into an offseason in which he almost certainly will receive the Broncos’ franchise tag unless a long-term deal is reached by early March, and he and the team then would try to negotiate through July on a deal.
What Miller showed Sunday is he’s going to be worth it.