Denver Broncos: 4 great individual seasons that are largely forgotten

Anthony Miller sets TD record in 1995

Anthony Miller spent three seasons with the Broncos from 1994-96. He was the team’s big free-agent signing prior to the start of the 1994 season after he had spent the first six seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers.

He was never considered among the best wide receivers in the league, but he was quite effective at times. In three seasons with the Broncos, he caught 175 passes. But his 1995 season was easily his best, as he was selected to the Pro Bowl that year.

Steve Watson caught 13 touchdown passes in 1981 and that was the team’s single-season record. When he broke it, he took the top spot from Lionel Taylor, who caught 12 touchdowns 21 years before that.

But Miller caught 14 touchdown passes in 1995 while only catching 59 total passes. To this day, that stands as the most touchdown receptions in team history, though Demaryius Thomas did match that mark in 2013.

But Thomas is a player you routinely hear of. He is probably the second-best wide receiver in team history behind Rod Smith. Miller’s numbers are a bit more of an outlier.

To have 14 touchdown catches in one season is impressive. In fact, only 24 players in league history have ever produced more in a single year.

Miller also put that number up in 1995 when the league did not favor passing the way it does today. Elway attempted just 542 passes in 1995. In 2013, when Thomas tied Miller’s team record, Manning threw the ball 659 times.

In addition, Miller played in just 14 games during that 1995 season, so he averaged one touchdown catch per game. That’s hard to do.