Coming off of what many perceive as one of the worst losses in Denver Broncos history, the 2017 team is at a crossroads entering week six of the NFL season. After falling to a previously unbeaten New York Giants team following a bye week, the Broncos are sitting at 3-2 and heading into a three-game road trip.
One of the leaders of the Broncos, and the face of the franchise, summed up the Broncos’ loss last week, when Von Miller discussed the Broncos getting beaten by what was perceived to be a “less-talented” Giants team. Miller echoed his post-game comments once more when asked about his final thoughts on the tough loss against the Giants:
“We just got beat. I have the same remarks that I had right after the game. We just got beat. It doesn’t matter who they have out there playing. We just got beat. If you’re able to step on the football field in the National Football League, you have some type of skill. You can play. On Sunday, it just wasn’t our day.”
Miller, who has notched five sacks through five games, continues to play at a high level despite the team’s middling 3-2 record. As opposing teams continue to find ways to play around the Broncos’ talent on defense, many have begun questioning if the team has found their “identity” on defense, which Miller addressed as well after Thursday’s practice:
“It changes. You want to be dominant, of course. You want to go out there and get turnovers and play solid defense. The identity over the season will start to form. Every team is different every single year.”
One of the biggest letdowns from last week that drew criticism and concern from fans and media outlets was the Broncos’ no. 1 ranked run defense getting trampled by the Giants for 148 yards on the ground. Perhaps a more telling statistic should get a longer look, though — the Broncos’ defense has struggled with all season has been generating turnovers, ranking a dismal 29th in the NFL with 0.8 takeaways per game.
By comparison, the 2016 defense finished the season ranked 8th in the NFL with 1.7 takeaways per game. With the lack of takeaways becoming more of a concern, Miller spoke about the thought process behind forcing turnovers on defense:
“You just have to think about it. It just has to be conscious. It has to be a conscious effort to really go out there and try to strip the ball. There were a couple plays where I feel like I could have made. The sack in the Oakland game, when I came around, I felt like I should have had a chance to get that ball out. It didn’t happen.”
Miller continued, “I guess we just haven’t had our break yet. But, we’re definitely working on it. It’s definitely a priority of ours. If we could still play the same defense that we’ve been playing and add on some turnovers, we’d be more than good. It was a priority this week, so hopefully we’ll be able to make some plays this Sunday.”
This Sunday, the Broncos will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Los Angeles Chargers, in a rematch of the Broncos’ narrow season-opening win over the Chargers on ‘Monday Night Football’. To avoid falling further behind in the division, and dropping to a 3-3 record, the Broncos will need Miller to help unveil the defense’s “identity” and begin forcing turnovers if they are to get their season back on track.