Von Miller was sick of not getting to Andrew Luck, so he did something about it. In the Denver Broncos 34-20 victory against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, Andrew Luck had barely enough time to think, let alone read a defense, thanks to the Broncos pass rush.
In Von Miller’s first four career games against Luck, he had zero sacks. On Sunday, Miller changed that narrative by recording three sacks, including a game-clinching sack-fumble, while getting to him early and often.
“(Von) is an exceptional player and I try to emulate him,” outside linebacker Shane Ray said. “I want to be able to do things like him. To see what he does, it definitely pushes me to do better and I think it pushes everyone on our defense. So it’s great to have him out there.”
The Broncos’ past struggles against Luck haven’t just been isolated on Miller, though. In fact, in last year’s 24-27 loss in Indianapolis, the Broncos only sacked Luck once, while pressuring him 11 times. The Broncos wasted no time taking Luck down, sacking him twice in the first half and three more times in the second half.
With Luck’s big stature (6-foot-4, 240 pounds) and athletic ability, the Broncos knew that taking him down would be no easy task. To combat this, the game plan was to attack Luck like a tight end.
“[Luck is] a tough guy to bring down,” defensive end Jared Crick said after the game. “[Luck is] not going to go down easy. You got to respect it, you got to respect his game, we all do of course, but it’s always a headache going up against a guy like that who refuses to give up easy sacks.”
In the first half, stopping Luck was by no means a one-man task. Besides Miller (1 sack), the Broncos had contributions from Ware (.5) and Derek Wolfe (.5). Outside of sacks first-year Bronco Jared Crick made his presence felt, getting to Luck multiple times, forcing him out of the pocket.
Luck has been hurried on half and hit on a third of his dropbacks.
— Chris Wesseling (@ChrisWesseling) September 18, 2016
However, after a first half of only giving up 72 total yards and holding the Colts to four first downs, the Broncos defense gave up a 79-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the second half. At the beginning of the drive, the defense suffered a big blow when DeMarcus Ware left the game with an elbow injury and did not return.
Still, the pass rush didn’t stop, as Miller stood tall when the game mattered most.
With 1:51 left and the Colts driving to win the game, Miller came around the edge to strip-sack Luck, and Shane Ray picked up the ball and returned it 15 yards for the Broncos second defensive score of the afternoon. Defensive end Derek Wolfe said these clutch defensive plays are just part of the Broncos identity.
“First play you go out there, Von gets a strip sack, Shane Ray picks it up and scores. That’s what we do,” Wolfe said.
On the Colts following drive, Miller would sack Luck one more time, signaling the end of the game.
“[The opponent] gets tired, and as they get tired [Von Miller] just gets more and more energy,” Wolfe said after the victory. “[Miller is] like a shark when there is blood in the water, he just gets going faster and faster.”
Through two games, Miller has four sacks and is looking like the man who earned himself a Super Bowl MVP last February and a historic contract this offseason.