It took him nearly six games, but Von Miller‘s sackless streak has finally come to an end.
Miller finally got ahold of Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott during the fourth quarter of the Broncos 35-17 win over the Cowboys on Sunday not once, but twice. Those two sacks were not only his first of the 2017 season, but also his first sacks in the last five games, dating back to the 2016 season.
Miller’s never had so much trouble getting after the quarterback as he has in the last five games. His five games without a sack was the longest drought of his career.
It would’ve been easy for Miller to get frustrated in the middle of his dry spell, but insisted last week that that wasn’t the case.
“No,” Miller said of being frustrated. “I mean I’ve been playing great. We’ve been playing great as a defense.”
Miller may not have been frustrated, but Sunday was an indicator that he was certainly eager to put the streak to bed. Leading up to his two fourth-quarter sacks, Miller was called offside three times (with one of those penalties declined) in the game. A ticky-tack roughing the passer call in the third quarter meant Miller was flagged for three of Denver’s eight penalties.
Penalties are bad. Three penalties in a game is really bad, but it’s tough to knock Miller for his persistence. To keep himself motivated, Miller spoke last week about reminding himself that he’s always just one play away from that sack, and it turned out to be true.
“It’s just going to come,” Miller said last Wednesday. “[San Francisco DE] Elvis Dumervil when he was here, he always told me ‘You know sacks, they come in bunches.’ You can’t really get down or lose motivation when you’re out there on the field because you have to keep going and keep going because at any given moment I can make that play. It might not be the same with other pass rushes in the league or other defensive ends, but I know the type of confidence that I have in myself, my game and the confidence my teammates and my team have in me. I’m just one play away and I just have to keep playing for those plays. They’ll come.”
Miller’s streak without a sack came to an end on Sunday. Now, Broncos Country is hoping that Miller’s two sack performance against the Cowboys is the start of a sack streak moving forward.