The Broncos can’t afford a loss to the Raiders this week. Not only would it drop them to being tied for last place in the AFC West, but it would also extend the streak of embarrassing losses (not just losses) to three.
Von Miller is well aware of the weight this game holds.
“We just have to win,” Miller told the media on Thursday. “I’ve got to rethink my approach in how I label some of these games. Maybe labeling the Ravens game a playoff game was too early for our team. Maybe some of the things that I said about the Pittsburgh Steelers and the type of game that we needed to play—maybe it was too early. It’s definitely not too early for the Raiders. We’ve got to go out and play well from start to finish. This is a huge game for us. We’ve got to win this game.”
It won’t be an easy task though, considering all the talent on the opposing team.
“They’ve got all the pieces in the world,” Miller continued. “They’ve got fast guys, they’ve got one of the best tight ends in the league, their offensive line is solid. They’ve got one of the best running backs in the league. Derek Carr is one of the best quarterbacks, and their defense is playing solid. I’ve got a whole lot of respect for those guys — Maxx Crosby, Yannick Ngakoue, Jonathan Abrams, and all those guys. They’ve got a solid team. We’ve got a solid team, and we’ve got to do all the things that we normally do.”
Miller couldn’t have put it better. In both of the Broncos’ losses, they looked out of sorts and completely marooned, yet they still had chances to win.
“In all these games, especially in the ones that we lost, we had opportunities to win these games,” Miller said, as he rolled on. “These losses are not like the losses that we’ve had in the past where you get on the bus and you look around like, ‘What just happened? How do we even have a chance to you know play these guys?’ These losses, they’re not like that. We’ve had opportunities to win these games. We played well in these games, just not well enough to win. I think it really motivates everybody to play better knowing the type of team that we have. I watched the offensive film coming back on the plane. I watched the defense and offensive film and there are plays for everybody to be made. There are so many plays for everybody and so many more plays that we left out there. We’ve got to start to make those plays to come out with a win.”
If the Broncos don’t come out of Week 6 with a win, the situation will become especially dire, especially quick.
