5. Von Miller suffers a season-ending ankle injury
I was at Disney World, the happiest place on earth, when I returned to my hotel room to a bunch of messages that something bad happened to Von Miller on the last rep of practice as the team prepared to face off against the Tennessee Titans in the season opener.
A season-ending foot injury.
The Denver Broncos’ leader, highest-paid player, and best defensive player arguably in franchise history poised for a big season was lost.
Just before the regular season began, it was a massive blow to a Denver Broncos team that, with its youth, had already lost a huge chunk of the offseason to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Miller himself had COVID and after his recovery had put in the work for one of the most impressive offseasons we have seen from him in his time with the Broncos, at least physically. Miller looked like he had taken up body building after his recovery from COVID and everyone in Broncos Country was excited to hopefully, finally get the chance to see Bradley Chubb and Miller together in Vic Fangio’s defense for an extended period of time.
Losing Miller paved the way for Malik Reed to prove his worth as a top reserve, but it also has significantly shown up in the Broncos’ ability to close games.