Broncos LB Von Miller Returns to Dominant Form vs. Seahawks

Sep 14, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller (58) prior to the game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

It’s been a seemingly quick road to recovery for Broncos linebacker Von Miller, who has put in extra time over the last nine months to get himself right after tearing his ACL in a regular season game against the Houston Texans. It would now appear as though Miller has not only returned to form in terms of his knee’s health, but he’s returned to the old Von we all grew to know and love.

Against the Seahawks, Miller had the highest grade of any Broncos player, per Pro Football Focus, at a +4.8. You might figure that all of Miller’s positive plays came against the passing attack of the Seahawks, when in reality, it was he who was helping shut down the Seahawks’ running game that forced its way down the field at times, but didn’t have a strong yard per carry average from the running backs.

Only one Seahawks lineman graded positively against the Broncos’ defensive front, and Marshawn Lynch also came away with an overall negative grade, which doesn’t really matter since he scored two touchdowns in a Seattle win.

That being said, the subject of this piece is to highlight how well Von Miller played, not how poorly Seattle played in light of that. Miller’s run grade of +4.0 was the best on the Broncos ahead of Malik Jackson’s +2.2 and his +1.6 grade against the pass was tied for best on the team with Jackson.

The number that really stands out to me from Miller though is this one:  He finished the game with eight QB hurries. The next highest number on the team was three for the game.

Miller was abusing the Seahawks’ rookie right tackle, and was getting a ton of pressure on Russell Wilson, who despite winding up with the clutch plays that he did actually had a pretty poor grade from Pro Football Focus.

This was a statement return for Miller, who has seemed a little not himself in the first two games. He finished the game out with seven tackles, one sack, and a tackle for loss, but the eight QB hurries is something that the Broncos can feel really good about. Miller is getting pressure on the opposing quarterback, and that really translated to how well the Broncos’ defense played for a majority of the game against Seattle.

At a +6.6 grade now on the season, Miller is the Broncos’ highest graded defender and leads the team in hurries. He is back, everyone. Von Miller is back.