ASHBURN, Va. — The last time the Denver Broncos visited Washington, the visitors’ locker room at Northwest Stadium (then FedEx Field) became the first stop in a months-long recruitment drive for Kirk Cousins. The former Washington quarterback threw three touchdowns in a Christmas Eve win over the Broncos, leaving many Denver players yearning for a future with Cousins as their offensive leader.
“A lot of teams would kill to have a quarterback like that,” Von Miller, the Broncos’ star passer, said at the time.
It was eight years ago, in Week 16 of the 2017 season, when the Broncos could still taste Super Bowl 50 glory but had just begun their search for Peyton Manning’s successor. Miller felt all the pain as Denver went through five losing seasons and a revolving door of starting quarterbacks before being fortuitously (albeit tearfully, at first) put back on a winning track. He was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in 2021, won his second Super Bowl that season, then signed a nine-figure contract with the Buffalo Bills, with whom he won three division titles.
Miller thought his next stop would be a continuation of the others – joining another star quarterback for another winning year.
“You just can’t leave Josh Allen and go anywhere, man,” Miller said after arriving in Washington last summer. “And as you get older, the losses pile up. They seem to hit a lot harder than when you were young. And this team is all about winning.”
How quickly things can change in the NFL.
When the Broncos return to Washington on Sunday night, they will look to extend an eight-game winning streak with one of the league’s best defenses. Miller, meanwhile, will try to help salvage things for the 3-8 Commanders, who have lost six straight and are now on the brink of elimination.
Facing his old team will undoubtedly be awkward.
“It’s my third time playing against them, so it’s not as weird, but it’s still weird,” he said earlier this week. “I hate playing my old teams. … You put so much into it and you form bonds and you never really think you’re going to leave. It’s the place you fall in love with and then you’re not there anymore. It’s really hard, it’s really weird.”
Adding to the strangeness: the Broncos are celebrating the 10th anniversary this season of their victory in Super Bowl 50. Miller, the Super Bowl MVP that year, is featured on the cover of their media guide.
Miller assures there is no bitterness toward Denver following his trade in 2021. He is quite a fan of the team and often thinks back to his 11 years there, feeling a part of him is still in Denver.
“I have flashbacks all the time: good times, bad times and difficult times,” he said. “I lean on that, that experience that I had all the time. In Buffalo, with Josh Allen, I leaned on some of the things we did (in Denver) with Peyton. I leaned on some of the things we did on Denver’s defense when I went to L.A. And going through tough times here, I leaned on some of the things that got us through tough times in Denver. That’s my heart. That’s where it comes from All my knowledge. Ninety-five percent of the time when I’m saying something, it comes from what DeMarcus (Ware) said to me, Peyton said to me or (Broncos head athletic trainer) Vince Garcia said to me.
Earlier in the offseason, Miller said he spoke with Broncos general manager George Paton about an opportunity to return to Denver. However, it soon became clear to both parties that this would not work. Denver is full of talented young passers. At this point in his career, Miller is playing a more limited role and not contributing on special teams.
But what didn’t suit the Broncos seemed to suit the Commanders, who lacked a marquee passer before the season started and now need rushing help more than ever. Injuries have decimated Washington’s roster, particularly on the defensive line, where they lost three defensive ends – Deatrich Wise Jr. (quad), Dorance Armstrong (ACL) and Javontae Jean-Baptiste (pectoral) – for the season.
The loss of Armstrong was particularly hard; Commanders blitzed 6.1 percent higher while Armstrong was out, but generated a 12.2 percent lower pressure rate and allowed 1.5 more yards per pass attempt, according to Next Gen Stats. Despite missing the last four games, Armstrong still leads the team with 5.5 sacks and is tied with Jacob Martin for the most pressures, with 25.
Miller, however, has fulfilled the role Washington assigned him on the field: a limited passer who can come home on critical downs. Nearly 62 percent of his QB pressures and three of his five sacks came on third downs.
Von Miller’s 16th season brought him to Madrid, but team success was hard to come by. (Denis Doyle/Getty Images)
Miller, now 36, is no longer the player he was when he won Super Bowl 50 MVP honors by flying off the line of scrimmage and placing himself nearly parallel to the ground on his runs. His rest time this season isn’t even what it was last season in Buffalo. However, Miller in year 15 can still do more than most. This season, he converted 23.8 percent of his pressures into sacks, his highest rate in seven years, according to Next Gen.
“He’s kind of a designated passer and he still has everything in his body,” Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi told Denver media Thursday. “He’s someone we need to be aware of and make sure he doesn’t ruin the game because he still has that ability.”
Miller’s 110.5 sacks as a Bronco set a franchise record, but his goals are higher. He will leave the game ranked in the NFL’s top 10 in career sacks, a statistic that became official in 1982.
With 134.5 sacks, Miller needs 3.5 more to pass Richard Dent and John Randle for 10th on the all-time list, just below former teammate and mentor DeMarcus Ware (138.5).
“He’ll probably say, ‘What took you so long?'” Miller joked of Ware, who reached the top 10 in 12 years in the NFL. “I can’t just be 10 years old. I have to be like No. 6 to stay there because there are guys getting five, six sacks a game.”
Miller has already made it clear that he wants to play at least a 16th year in the NFL. He hasn’t set a timetable for his career because that’s not how he works. Not at this stage of his career. Not after enduring the lean times in Denver and the last few difficult weeks in Washington.
“At this point, 15 years, there’s always something to play for,” Miller said. “I want to get as many sacks as possible. I’m playing now…I want to play next year, but I’m here in the present right now….For me personally, ‘Sunday Night Football’ against the Denver Broncos, it’s going to be a special night for me.”
— Nick Kosmider contributed to this report.
