So far, it has been a long 2017 season for the Denver Broncos, despite the fact that the NFL is just now entering Week 10 of the season. The Broncos are sitting at 3-5 and are coming off of four straight losses, in which the team has looked like a shell of itself in comparison to the team that started the season 3-1.
The defense — the heart and soul of the Broncos since their historic Super Bowl run in 2015 — looked as deflated as ever last Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles put up 51 points, behind MVP candidate quarterback Carson Wentz. There were suggestions that the defense has “given up” or “lost its identity” after constantly covering for a lethargic offense that has failed to put consistent points on the board.
Linebacker Von Miller, a captain and the face of the franchise, addressed these claims when asked if he thought the team, as a whole, has lost its “swagger”.
“I was about to say, individually, I’m going to be the guy the Broncos brought me in to be, no matter what. As professionals, as men, when you go out there and you get beat like that, it definitely hurts. We got punched in the stomach. We have high-character guys in the locker room who have fought through adversity before.”
Despite the team being 3-5, Miller has continued the dominant play that has made him one of the best defensive players of the decade. Through eight games, Miller has recorded 31 tackles and 8.0 sacks. This week, Pro Football Focus named Miller to their All-Midseason team at outside linebacker. Despite the team’s universal struggles in just about all three phases of the game, Miller made it very clear that he has faith in his teammates when asked about the adversity the team has faced this season:
“I wouldn’t want to go into a game with — I wouldn’t replace any of these guys going into the next game. I want [CB Aqib] Talib on the outside and [CB] Chris [Harris Jr.] on this side. I want ‘D.T’ (WR Demaryius Thomas), [QB] Brock [Osweiler] and [WR] Emmanuel [Sanders] on the other side. I want to go out there and prove that last week was just a fluke. We have the same exact team this week, and we have an opportunity to go out here and get a win. That will be wonderful for us; that’ll be great.”
While the team’s record may not indicate it, Miller’s comments are a reminder that the Broncos possess loaded talent on both sides of the ball, making them a threat to any team in the NFL on any given Sunday.
The Broncos head into Sunday’s match-up as heavy underdogs to the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, who are coming off of a week of rest from the team’s bye week. Miller appears to believe the team hasn’t lost its “swagger”, nor are they going to roll over during times of adversity.
Miller has confidence in his team, perhaps more so than sports experts and analysis. If the Broncos truly have fight left in them, a home win against the Patriots would be the perfect place to turn the season around and send a powerful message to the NFL.
