It appears that the game Von Miller has been patiently waiting for is here. Not only is the game in primetime and against an undefeated opponent, but the Patriots are a revolving door at offensive line. His sack statistics only read six but he also has 37 quarterback hurries and 19 quarterback hits according to Pro Football Focus. His impact is monumental each week as he finds ways to disrupt any opponent’s passing attack and has been close to the breakout game he knows will come.
“My time will come. I’ve just got to keep on rushing the quarterback. We’ve got a real good secondary. [Aqib] Talib is playing out of his mind right now, T.J. [Ward] and [Chris Harris – all those guys are playing insane right now. I’m just trying to make them get the ball out quick. As long as [Brady] is doing that, we’ll be good. The sacks will come. The sacks will come. I’m going to come in here on one of the Mondays. I’m going to look at you, and I’m going to be like, ‘Yep, I told you this was going to be the week right here,’” Miller said Thursday.
The Patriots have been banged up along the line all season, giving up 22 sacks and their Monday night game against the Buffalo Bills took a toll as well. Four offensive lineman were on the injury report this week and all are expected to play. Several offensive lineman have shuffled in two or three places along the line and at right tackle Sebastian Vollmer is recovering from a Week 10 concussion and will have to deal with Miller a majority of the time. The Bills got continuous pressure on Brady all night and held their offense in check for most of the evening. The matchup looks very favorable for Miller but Thursday he explained that Tom Brady’s skill set almost makes it a moot point.
“I think with Tom, some of the times he doesn’t need to play with the offensive line. He just needs the receivers and [Rob Gronkowski]. He could go down the field and play. He doesn’t even need those five offensive linemen. They do a good job of working with him. He’s just so great, he’s just so good he really doesn’t lean on the offensive line. You can tell in games he’s getting the ball, he’s throwing it super fast, he makes his decisions super quick. Hopefully for us, we’ve got a really good secondary. Hopefully we can slow him down a little bit with that.”
Miller has said all the right things and seems to be maturing and patient when it comes to his sack numbers. Sunday is setting up for the game he has waited for all season. Hopefully, Monday he can look at the media and say, “Yep, I told you this was going to be the week right here.”
Email Sam at sam@milehighsports.com and follow him on Twitter @SamCowhick
