Von Miller’s injury will be too much for the Broncos to overcome

This week, Broncos star Von Miller suffered an ankle injury that will likely sideline him for the entire 2020 season. This is devastating news for obvious reasons. Miller is the best player on the team and looked poised to have one of his best seasons.

The 2020 Broncos have an improved roster, but even when fully healthy, they were still going to have to battle hard to find a way into the playoffs. Many fans and media had playoff expectations and those were realistic. With the injury to Miller, we can wave goodbye to those playoff hopes.

Injuries to your best players can derail a season. Broncos Country went through this two years ago and it destroyed a season that was starting to show promise.

It’s no secret that Broncos fans have nothing nice to say when it comes to former head coach Vance Joseph. What is a secret is that there was a stretch in 2018 where Joseph had the Broncos in line to make a legitimate playoff push. Then, the injuries hit.

Under Joseph, the Broncos were 3-6 heading into the bye week, and many were calling for the coach’s job. Joseph responded by winning three straight games against the Chargers, Steelers and Bengals. The Broncos were making plays in key moments and momentum was on their side.

The Broncos were back at .500 and riding high. Then, it all evaporated.

During the Bengals game, Chris Harris Jr. suffered a leg injury that ended his season. The following week in practice, wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders tore his Achilles, ending his season. Within less than a week, the Broncos lost two of their five best players.

The 2018 Broncos weren’t loaded with talent, so losing players like Harris and Sanders was too much for the team to overcome. They lost their remaining four games and missed the playoffs. The injuries were deflating.

Without Harris, the secondary was lost. This was evident when George Kittle tore up the entire defense the week following the injury to Harris.

After Sanders went down, teams were able to stack the box on Phillip Lindsay and double team Courtland Sutton. Case Keenum’s ineffective play and a bad offensive line allowed for Sutton and Lindsay to be schemed right out of games.

The 2020 Broncos are in a similar spot. The loss of Miller cannot be understated. There is no backup or free agent that can come close to impacting a game like Miller. Clay Matthews and Miller had the same amount of sacks last year, but Miller impacted games far more than Matthews. The entire Broncos defense is centered around Von Miller. Offensive coordinators are terrified of Miller and have even triple teamed him in the past because he has that strong of an impact on games.

What makes the Broncos prospects of the playoffs a scary proposition is that Bradley Chubb is still not healthy. Chubb is still recovering from his torn ACL and not close to 100 percent. If Chubb begins playing now, he will not be himself all season. Chubb isn’t going to get “more healthy” while playing. That’s not how football works.

Once the hitting begins, so does the wear and tear of the season. The Broncos best move would be to not play Chubb until he is fully healed and ready to go. The injury to Miller makes this a tough sell to the coaching staff.

The Broncos managed to win seven games last year without Chubb and only Miller. If Chubb was healthy, maybe an 8-8 season would still be possible. Miller and Chubb could very well be the two best players on the entire Broncos roster, and one is gone and the other can’t truly impact a game to his full potential.

Injuries can ruin a season. Everybody remembers the Broncos 2008 collapse that got Mike Shanahan fired. The team was 8-5 and needed one win to clinch the AFC West and they couldn’t do it and finished 8-8. What’s never talked about is that the Broncos lost all of their running backs to injury. They had to sign Tatum Bell to fill the roster at the end of the season because they literally had nobody to play running back.

The Broncos still have talent and can pull off some wins, but the loss of their best player, a player who is a matchup nightmare for every opponent, is too much for this team to overcome. The Broncos will be on the outside looking in come playoff time for the fifth straight season. It’s nobody’s fault, and it’s not a knock to the rest of the team. It’s just unfortunate.