Mile High Monday: Miller’s exclusive club, Flacco’s mistakes and more
Sep 30, 2019, 6:19 AM
The Broncos haven’t won a game yet this season. It’s incredibly depressing to think how far the mighty have fallen.
It doesn’t seem like that long ago that the Broncos were hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl 50. Now, Denver will be lucky to win six or seven games this season and have almost zero shot at making the playoffs with an 0-4 start.
I like when this team is successful because they’re more fun to cover. I’ve been around this team since the Mike Shanahan days and this season has to be a low point. I hope things turn around at some point – or at least we get to see some light and hope for the future later in the season.
I also like contemplating life and sports when driving around with the top down on my old Jeep TJ. The following is a result of those trips during the week.
Buckle up, let’s take a ride through my thoughts.
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100-Sack Club
It was great to see linebacker Von Miller get back to his fun-loving ways on the football field – at least in the first half against the Jaguars in Week 4. Miller sacked Jacksonville quarterback Gardner Minshew two times in the first half, and those plays got him to 100 regular season sacks for his career.
Miller has had 25 multiple-sack games in his career and is certainly on a Hall of Fame track. He becomes the sixth-fastest player to reach the 100-sack mark.
Unfortunately, the Broncos lost against the Jaguars, so when Miller talked after the game, he was not asked about hitting 100 sacks. Instead, he was asked mostly about the loss and what it takes to keep this locker room together.
“We’ve got a great group of guys. We’ve got great coaches, some of the best coaches that I’ve had my entire career. We’ve got a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, we’ve just got to stick together and really come closer. At the end of the day, you play professional football. It’s the pros. There’s no room for people that want to go out halfway through it or quit or have second thoughts or anything like that. We’re in it. We’ve got Week 5 coming up. There’s no way out. The only way out is up,” Miller said.
Congratulations to Miller for hitting 100 sacks, and I hope that he never plays for another team and retires as a member of the Broncos. Hopefully, after these losses the team doesn’t decide to trade him away.
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Picks are a Problem
There has been a disturbing trend with quarterback Joe Flacco and the Broncos need to clean up this problem ASAP. During the last three games, Flacco has thrown an interception – and two of those picks have robbed the team of momentum.
The interception that Flacco threw against the Jaguars only led to three points for the opponent. However, the Broncos were driving before the half and could have went up by 20-3 or 24-3 depending on if they got a field goal or a touchdown. Instead, the Broncos went into halftime with a 17-6 lead.
Flacco has not been bad over the first four games of the year, but these interceptions are costly and something the team struggles to overcome.
He passed for more than 300 yards against the Jaguars and had three passing touchdowns, so Flacco wasn’t the sole reason they lost – not even close. The run defense did not do the team any favors and could not slow down Leonard Fournette who had a career-high 225 rushing yards against the Broncos.
Flacco’s interception robbed the team of momentum before the break. It also gave the Jaguars just a little bit of hope as they went into the locker room for intermission. The Broncos have to play near-perfect football to win this year. That means Flacco needs to stop throwing picks.
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Tip of the Iceberg
The best is yet to come with wide receiver Courtland Sutton. So far after four games, Sutton has 22 catches for 309 yards and two receiving touchdowns. His 22 catches rank 27th in the league at this time, while the 309 receiving yards rank 16th in the NFL.
Sutton scored his first two touchdowns of the season against the Jaguars on Sunday. It was good to see Flacco find Sutton in the end zone, and it gives me hope that this trend will continue. Sutton is a big and athletic target who can dominate at the catch point.
Flacco needs to keep peppering him with passes on a weekly basis. Broncos offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello needs to force-feed the ball to Sutton as he has the upside to take over a game. Sutton is tough to cover because of his size and “my ball” mentality, but he’s also a tough draw because he has the strength to rip passes away from smaller defenders.
We’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg with Sutton. The more he can emerge in 2019, the better off it will be for this offense and this team.
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27 Years of Dirt
Music is a big part of my life. It always has been and it always will be. One of my favorite bands of all time is Alice in Chains.
I grew up listening to their second full-length album “Dirt.” The band announced on Twitter over the weekend that the album was released 27 years ago on September 29th.
27 years of #DIRT. pic.twitter.com/IxOtG2tqFb
— Alice in Chains (@AliceInChains) September 29, 2019
I cannot believe it’s been that long since that album was released. In addition to thinking I’m old, I also remember that this was one of the first CDs I ever bought. Now, CDs aren’t even a thing – really – and I consume all of my music digitally these days.
Time sure does fly by, but an album like this is a classic. What are some of your favorite albums of all time? Hit me up on Twitter and let me know!
