Tag: sacks

Trey Hendrickson extends NFL-leading sacks streak to 8 games

Former Saints pass rusher Trey Hendrickson extends NFL-leading sacks streak to 8 games with Bengals

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The New Orleans Saints aren’t missing many players they lost this offseason more than Trey Hendrickson. The veteran pass rusher has been sensational with the Cincinnati Bengals, bagging at least one sack in each of his last eight games — a franchise record for Cincinnati and the longest active streak in the NFL. Hendrickson is now up to 11.5 sacks on the season, a year removed from his 13.5-sack campaign with the Saints in 2020.

It was easy to write off Hendrickson as a one-year wonder in free agency. He had created just 6.5 sacks in his first three years with the Saints put together, and benefited from the heavy attention opponents gave to slowing down Cameron Jordan on the other side of New Orleans’ defensive line. But credit where it’s due: Hendrickson is playing the best football of his career right now. He’s put in a lot of work and now he’s reaping the benefits while running point for Cincinnati.

Brandon Thorn is one of the best evaluators of line play around, publishing regular updates to his charting of every sack by every player each week, year over year. Last season Hendrickson finished with a middling sacks score, crediting most of his sacks to time bought by the coverage, cleanup of pressure created by a teammate, or otherwise low quality reps by the offense. Midway through this season, Hendrickson cracked Thorn’s top five defensive linemen across the league with nearly as many high quality sacks as low quality takedowns, with little help from the secondary or his teammates up front.

Good for him. It’s a shame that the Saints weren’t able to re-sign Hendrickson to a contract extension, but that’s going to happen when the salary cap is $28 million beneath where it was supposed to be. Financial losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic led the league to depress this year’s cap, stunting the growth that the Saints and other teams had been planning to take advantage of in recent years. That meant they couldn’t sign everyone, and good players like Hendrickson walked away.

But he’ll be back soon. The Bengals are scheduled to visit New Orleans in 2022 for a game at the Caesars Superdome, and the Saints will need to be ready for him and other familiar faces on that roster like Vonn Bell and Eli Apple, and a couple of guys who found success in college up the road at LSU in Joe Burow and Ja’Marr Chase.

Before that game is even scheduled, though, the Saints are projected to receive a fourth-round compensatory pick in the 2022 NFL draft for losing Hendrickson in free agency earlier this year. Hopefully his sky-high level of play helps bump that up to a more-valuable third rounder, but we won’t get an answer on that front for a few more months. For now, let’s just cheer on Hendrickson from afar.

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Notre Dame stomps out Virginia: 5 instant takeaways

Notre Dame dominates Virginia en-route to a 9-1 record. What was your biggest takeaway from the blowout victory?

No. 9 (CFP) Notre Dame dominated Virginia to improve to 9-1 on the season Saturday night in a game that finished with a 28-3 final score that never felt that close.  Notre Dame faced a Virginia squad that played without their starting star quarterback Brennan Armstrong and had no troubles in keeping Virginia from doing much on offense all night.

As the Irish move to 9-1 and have just two games remaining this regular season, here are five instant takeaways from the dominating win in Charlottesville:

LOOK: In terms of pressure rate this season, it’s the Raiders and then everyone else

LOOK: In terms of pressure rate this season, it’s the Raiders and then everyone else

It’s hard to comprehend just how quickly the Raiders went from several years of being one of the worst pass-rushing teams in the NFL to being far and away the best pass-rushing team in the league.

It’s easy to see the night-and-day improvement by the Raiders’ defensive line. But even as good as it is, some folks who have followed the Raiders exclusively for years may find themselves wondering if the improvement is drastic merely compared to how bad it was or compared to the rest of the league.

It’s both, actually. And this graph from Next Gen Stats offers the best illustration of this I’ve seen yet.

Most NFL teams are that oval cluster in the middle. Then look in the upper lefthand corner, separated from everyone else. It’s the Raiders.

That’s exactly where you want to be because it means the Raiders blitz less than any other team in the league and yet still have the third-highest pressure rate (38.7). It makes them an extreme outlier as the rest of the NFL shows.

The NFL’s Next-Gen Stats added that the Raiders have gotten pressure on 30% of their snaps in every game this season. Which explains why they have six different players with multiple sacks, led by Maxx Crosby (5.0) who also leads the entire NFL QB hits (19) and is second in pressures (36) only to teammate Yannick Ngakoue (38).

Ngakoue is the reigning AFC Defensive Player of the Week.

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Replacing Andrus Peat is a tall task, but Calvin Throckmorton is up to it

Replacing Andrus Peat is a tall task, but Calvin Throckmorton is up to it

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It’s no secret that the relationship between Andrus Peat and New Orleans Saints fans is strained. The three-time Pro Bowl alternate has turned in as many highlights as low moments through his 90-game career (including 7 postseason appearances), but his reported season-threatening pectoral muscle injury should give everyone pause. He’s remained a highly-paid, entrenched starter for years for good reason. If the Saints had found someone better he wouldn’t be where he is.

So it’s going to be tough for Calvin Throckmorton to replace him, whether that means one game or a dozen. Still, the second-year pro out of Oregon has shown plenty to be encouraged about. Pro Football Focus has charted 176 snaps for him in pass protection (third-most on the team), most of them spent through five games at right guard. And he’s only been charged with 10 pressures allowed, again third-most behind right tackle Ryan Ramczyk (19) and Peat (14), who he’s tabbed to fill in for at left guard. Throckmorton also hasn’t been fouled for holding, a false start, or any other penalty so far.

He’s played about as well as you could ask someone in his position. As NFL offensive line analyst Brandon Thorn noted in an extensive Saints film study writeup for NewOrleans.Football, Thorckmorton is as technically-sound as they come. He’s been coached well enough to handle almost any assignment asked of him. The danger comes in plays that allow better athletes to work around (or through) his defenses, which is exasperated by quarterbacks who hold onto the football too long.

Unfortunately, Jameis Winston currently ranks fifth in the NFL with an average 3.08 seconds to throw. That’s a full half-second longer than Drew Brees averaged a year ago (2.49), and it explains some of the issues the Saints offensive line has had. Thorn explored this problem in greater detail, finding stark differences in the depth of Winston’s drop (which can be adjusted) and his processing speed (which may be more difficult to smooth over) that directly led to the issues the Saints’ blockers have had.

Still, we should have some confidence that Throckmorton can handle this task. He’s been well-prepared for it between owning a fantastic name for a mauling NFL guard and a streak of 52 consecutive starts at Oregon (allowing just one sack in more than 3,000 career snaps in pass protection), where he lined up all over the offensive line — including 41 starts at right tackle, 5 at left tackle, and 3 each at center and guard. Ironically, however, he’s never started a game at left guard.

But that didn’t keep him from playing well against Seattle. He’ll face a monumentally stronger opponent on Sunday against Vita Vea and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates. Fortunately he’s know lining up between two of the Saints’ better blockers in left tackle Terron Armstead and center Erik McCoy, rather than inexperienced plug-in Cesar Ruiz at center and Ramczyk at right tackle (who has had his own problems to deal with). We’ll keep expectations muted for Throckmorton, but he’s better prepared than some of his predecessors were at taking on a heavier workload.

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Yannick Ngakoue latest in string of Raiders rushers with multi-sack day

Yannick Ngakoue latest in string of Raiders rushers with multi-sack day

One of the more interesting phenomena for the Raiders this season is their pass rush. The way they are playing this season is completely unrecognizable from what we had seen the past three years.

You can credit that to new defensive coordinator Gus Bradley or some of the new personnel or a combination of coaching and talent. Whatever it is, it’s working.

The most incredible thing about it is it isn’t just one guy or even two guys that are stepping up. The big days have been passed around over these first six games. 

You need only look at this statistic: multi-sack games.

Yannick Ngakoue put up two sacks in the team’s 33-22 win over the Eagles Sunday, and he is just the latest to do it. It was basically his turn.

Here’s how that has broken down over the first seven weeks of this season:

Week 1: Maxx Crosby 2.0

Week 2: Solomon Thomas 2.0

Week 3: Quinton Jefferson 1.0

Week 4: Darius Philon 2.0

Week 5: Yannick Ngakoue 2.0

Week 6: Maxx Crosby 3.0

Week 7: Yannick Ngakoue 2.0

Five different players have led the team in sacks over seven weeks. Six of those times, it was multiple sacks. And the Raiders defense came into the game tied for 7th in the league with 18 sacks, adding the two from Ngakoue to bring the total to 20 on the season. I asked Ngakoue after the game Sunday just how this is happening.

“It’s simple, it starts in practice with coach [Rod] Marinelli, the way he pushes us as a D-line,” Ngakoue responded. “And also coach [defensive coordinator] Gus [Bradley] as a whole unit. He demands greatness and that’s what we try to push for each and every day. When you got guys like Maxx Crosby, Solomon Thomas, Quinton Jefferson, the list goes on and on, things like that can happen.”

Even in years past when the likes of Khalil Mack patrolled the edges, the pass rush was oftentimes a one-man show. Sure, Mack had the Robin to his Batman in Bruce Irvin, but calling that a dynamic duo was a bit of a stretch, no matter how much Irvin claimed otherwise.

Ngakoue and Maxx unquestionably lead the way in the pass rush department. They have each had multiple sack games now with Crosby leading the team with five sacks and Ngakoue second with four. Both have now followed the other’s big day with a big day of their own. That’s not a coincidence.

“We push each other all the time, we’re trying to be a dynamic duo, and we want to be like the greats like the Von [Millers], the [Demarcus] Wares and guys like that, so we push each other every day and that’s what it is,” Ngakoue said of he and Crosby.

“We always compete with each other. From our get-offs to how clean we eat, all the way to how much extra work we put in after practice. If you watch the practice, we’re the last two guys to leave. Always notice him looking at me and trying to figure out how he can compete and I’m always looking at him to figure out how I can compete. That’s what I love about him. He’s a guy that busts his ass every day, I see a lot of myself in him, and that’s why he’s having tremendous success.”

Team ball is exemplified on the defensive line, where the edge rushers help the interior guys eat and vice versa. So, it’s also no coincidence that Quinton Jefferson and Solomon Thomas each had QB hits on Jalen Hurts while Ngakoue was cleaning up around the edge. 

As slippery as Hurts can be, he didn’t hurt the Raiders defense on this day. He got some good yards on the ground, but the rush made the Eagles’ offense one-dimensional. Nearly every time he dropped back he was under pressure, leading to Hurts completing just 18 of 34 passes (53%). 

The result was the Eagles went scoreless for more than 44 minutes, starting in the first quarter and ending in the fourth quarter. The Raiders’ defense forced two turnovers in that time while the offense scored 30 points. Then up 33-22 in the final minutes, Ngakoue put the exclamation point on it with his second sack. Ball game.

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Khalil Mack wreaks havoc on Raiders clunky offensive line in loss to Bears

Khalil Mack wreaks havoc on Raiders clunky offensive line in loss to Bears

Sunday the Raiders were facing a couple of familiar foes. Both that used to be great strengths for the Raiders. And both teamed up to do the Raiders in.

One is Khalil Mack and the other is the Raiders own offensive line.

Mack was smelling blood in the water with the Raiders offensive line this week. And the Raiders tried to fix their leaking hull with parts on hand. It failed miserably and once again took the Raiders team down with it.

After the team’s 11th straight opening drive that failed to yield a score the team seemed for a moment like it might shake off their recent penchant for slow starts. They mounted a drive that led to a field goal to give them the first points in the game. But that drive also showed the team starting to unravel before our eyes.

Twice on the drive the Raiders had two players called for holding on the same play. And both times, it involved trying to block former Raiders edge rusher Khalil Mack.

This week the Raiders tried to help mitigate the impact Mack had on the game by making a change on the right side. Rookie Alex Leatherwood was moved from right tackle to right guard and Brandon Parker was named the starter at right tackle. Both players were flagged for holding on that drive along with left guard John Simpson and tight end Foster Moreau. It was Leatherwood and Moreau who were trying to keep Mack from blowing up the play.

The lead didn’t last long as the Bears took advantage of a questionable roughing the passer penalty on Yannick Ngakoue and drove for a touchdown. That gave the Bears the lead; one they wouldn’t relinquish.

The Raiders response ended with a Carr sneak on third and one that was stopped for no gain and a Josh Jacobs run that was stopped for no gain, again by Mack.

The Bears response was to drive for another touchdown. This one just flat out bully ball to take a 14-3 lead.

That would be the score at the half in part because of Leatherwood being flagged for holding again and Mack getting in the backfield to sack Carr.

The third quarter began just as the first quarter did for the Raiders offense — with a run stuff and a three-and-out.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders would drive for their only TD of the game. But the offensive line along with Mack wouldn’t make it easy. Mack had two run stuffs in a row to force the Raiders to go for it on fourth and one. And with the lack of push on the offensive line, it didn’t look like the Raiders converted, but the officials ruled it a first down and there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it so it stood.

A roughing penalty gave the Raiders a first and goal from the one-yard-line and Josh Jacobs was able to dive over the line for the score. Down, 14-9, Gruden opted to go for two. And Mack flew past Brandon Parker to sack Carr again. This time, Mack had a message to send, flashing the “O” to the Vegas crowd. He clearly still has love for the fans in Oakland where he spent the first four seasons of his NFL career.

The Bears would answer with a long drive for a field goal to go up 17-9.

It was still a one-score game, but it would require the Raiders to drive down for a touchdown and a two-point conversion in the final 2:45. Carr was then sacked on first down and Brandon Parker was flagged for a false start on third and 12. The fourth down pass for Bryan Edwards sailed over his head and the game was all but over.

Another Bears field goal would ice it for the final score of 20-9.

The offensive line continued to not get any push and the team finished averaging just 3.2 yards per carry. That’s also what Josh Jacobs had on 15 carries (46 yards) and what he is averaging on the season. After the game, he expressed some frustration at the lack of running room.

“I watch film and sometimes on plays I’m like… I don’t know what y’all want me to do.’ Honestly,” Jacobs said of the run game. “But I’m very optimistic about the guys getting better and I believe in the guys. I see the way the way that they work each day so I think it’s just a matter of time before we start putting the pieces together. A lot of them guys are young, this is their first time really playing on this level. So I’m just going to keep trying to inspire them to want to be better.”

Jacobs was teammates with Alex Leatherwood at Alabama and noted that the rookie lineman hasn’t played guard in several years.

Leatherwood’s issues and rusty play at guard doesn’t really explain the play of Parker or why Gruden lined up a tight end one-on-one with Mack so often. The result being Derek Carr was sacked three times (four if you count the failed two-point conversion), and the Raiders offensive line had six penalties.

“Obviously we’re trying to find our right mix up front. And I’m not going to put it on the offensive line, but it was [Brandon] Parker’s first game starting today, Alex Leatherwood moved in to right guard. We’re trying to find the right mix. We’re struggling right now to run the football and obviously our pass protection has to get better as well.”

Gruden also used injuries to Richie Incognito, Denzelle Good and even Kamaal Seymour as excuses for the shoddy play at guard. But really this was several trades that came back to haunt him.

The big one, of course, being trading away Khalil Mack before he ever played a game for him. Then this offseason sending away Rodney Hudson and Gabe Jackson which has played the biggest role in the offensive line issues and helped allow Mack to get his revenge; both on Gruden for the trade and being kept under wraps in the Bears loss to the Raiders in London in 2019.

The All Pro edge rusher finished second on the team with 8 combined tackles (seven solo), one sack (and another on the two-point conversion attempt), a tackle for loss, and a QB hit. And, of course, the penalties he forced.

Meanwhile his former draft classmate Derek Carr barely got over 200 yards (206) and had his worst passer rating (67.1) since week 11 of 2019.

This photo perfectly captures why Aaron Donald is the best football player of his era

What a photo.

We’ve spent, and will continue to spend, a lot of time trying to explain Aaron Donald’s greatness.

He’s not the most impactful player of the modern era, but only because he doesn’t play quarterback. Beyond that, there’s nobody even close. Tom Brady’s the greatest winner the league has ever known, but he had Bill Belichick teaching him how to read defenses and can be slowed down by all the typical things that slow down a QB.

Donald has just wrecked the league since arriving, without any special scheme or accommodation.

He is what makes the Rams defense special. His presence must always be accounted for in ways that leave an offense at an immediate disadvantage on every single play.

Just look what Seattle had to do to deal with him in the second quarter of what would become a 26-17 Rams win on Thursday night:

That’s tackle Duane Brown AND guard Damien Lewis trying to block Donald. They both appear to be doing something that goes against the rules of football, though neither was called for holding on this play.

Brown, however, was called for holding later in the second quarter, with 16 seconds left, negating a touchdown pass that wold have sent the Seahawks into the locker room with a a 14-3 lead. Instead they missed the field goal and Los Angeles took control in the third quarter before ultimately winning a pivotal NFC West matchup.

Brown’s holding call didn’t come on Donald; he grabbed Terrell Lewis. But he shows all the signs of a player who was simply overwhelmed. He backpedals quickly, trying to square to Donald while pushing Lewis far enough to the outside. It doesn’t work.

This is what Aaron Donald does to defenses. Down after down after down after down. He probably gets held 50 percent of the time — at least. He makes plenty of plays himself, of course, but so often he eats up blockers and frees his teammates. It’s hard to quantify just how much grunt work he’s done to make the Rams defense good.

Take, for instance, play when he set a new franchise record for sacks. It may look like Donald is the beneficiary of his teammates flushing Russell Wilson into space.

But all of that only happens in the first place because the Seahawks are so worried about Donald, who keeps after the play and is eventually able to swoop to the QB for his 88.5 career sack.

Cameron DaSilva from our sister site Rams Wire does as good a job as anybody at chronicling Donald, and has the numbers to prove how dominant he’s been.

But Donald is so good that you have to watch him play after play to even start to understand it. You should definitely do that. But because you’re busy, it’s Friday, you probably want to get done work and on to whatever it is you do with your life the rest of the time, so in this one rare case you can get by just by seeing this moment in time, captured by Joe Nicholson of USA TODAY Sports.

It pretty much tells the story.

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Chargers DE Joey Bosa says Raiders QB Derek Carr got ‘shook’ under pressure

Chargers DE Joey Bosa: Derek Carr got ‘shook’ under pressure

There is usually a considerable difference between what NFL players think and what they actually say. Like, for instance, if, say a pass rusher *thinks* the opposing quarterback folds up like a cheap tent on the slightest pressure, he would probably not actually say that.

I mean, I guess, unless you’re Joey Bosa and perhaps if you would like your shots delivered without padding.

“We knew once we hit him a few times, he really gets shook,” Bosa said of Derek Carr after the Chargers 28-14 win over the rival Raiders on Monday Night. “And you saw on CC (Christian Covington’s) sack, he was pretty much curling into a ball before we even got back there. Great dude, great player, he’s been having a great year, but we know once you get pressure on him, he kind of shuts down and he’s not as effective with a crowded pocket, so that was the key to it.”

Ouch.

In case you’re wondering, the sack Bosa is talking about is this one:

It came on third and three with the Raiders knocking on the door for a potential game-tying score. Instead, it led to a field goal attempt from 52 yards out that missed wide left.

The Raiders had caught fire on their first two drives of the second half before that. And off the missed opportunity and the field goal miss, the Chargers turned the tables and drove for a score of their own to put the game away. Making that play arguably the biggest of the game.

As to whether Carr was “curling into a ball” before he was sacked, yeah I guess that’s technically true, but Covington is on him quick. He didn’t really have any choice but to brace for impact and try to protect the ball at that point.

Hard to say how much truth there is behind the notion that Carr was shook. That was the fourth time he’d been sacked in the game. The first one was by Bosa who came around the right edge to strip-sack Carr and force a three-and-out. So, certainly, that affords him the right to talk. The second sack came on the next drive, helping lead to the second of three three-and-outs to start the game.

The early pressure may have led the Raiders putting up just 51 net yards in the first half with just one first down. To Carr’s credit, he seemed to shake it off to open the third quarter, leading the team on consecutive touchdown drives. The third sack came two plays before the first touchdown pass.

Also, if you look at what Carr had done in the first three games of this season, he was under pressure a lot behind this young and makeshift offensive line. And still, he stood in the pocket and put up some impressive passing stats, including this one for a number of 20+ passes over the first three games of a season.

Perhaps Bosa was just being brutally honest. Perhaps he was miffed at Carr saying more than once that playing the Chargers in their house is like another home game. Perhaps both.

It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that either the Raiders figure out how to get their offensive line to protect Carr, give them some help, or find out the hard way if the pressure will ultimately shut down what looked like a high-flying offense to lead out the season.

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Like it or not, Saints are riding the downslope of Cameron Jordan’s career

Like it or not, Saints are riding the downslope of Cameron Jordan’s career:

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It’s becoming increasingly clear that Cameron Jordan will remain second-best in the New Orleans Saints record books for career sacks. He’s racked up 94.5 takedowns in his long career in black and gold, but he hasn’t found a single sack through the first four games of 2021.

He’s still getting pressures; his 18 defensive pressures rank eighth-most among all defensive linemen, but it’s more a product of him rarely leaving the field. Just five of his peers have seen more snaps (Shaquil Barrett, Aaron Donald, Leonard Floyd, Chase Young, and Sam Hubbard) than he has this season. His pass rush productivity rating from Pro Football Focus is just 6.2, 29th among linemen who have taken 100-plus reps.

Pressures are fine in the same way that popcorn is fine. They’re both empty calories that don’t leave you satisfied. Sacks are one of the most impactful plays a defender can make, between the loss of yards and the very physical rattling it puts on a quarterback. In 2017, Football Outsiders found that just 16% of possessions including a sack went on to find a first down or touchdown. You can pressure a quarterback and still end up with him completing a pass for a big gain.

And we aren’t getting enough of those impact plays from Jordan. His current sacks draught stretches back to Week 16 of last season, when he got just one sack against Kirk Cousins. Then you’ll see three more games without a sack until he got one in that farce of a game with the quarterback-less Broncos. Three of the eight sacks he got last year came in one game with the Falcons, which, at least he picked a high-stakes rivalry game to do it in.

Maybe this is just who Jordan is now. He’s closing in on 10,000 snaps played in the NFL (he’s probably already there; public tracking only goes back to 2012, a year after he entered the league, and Jordan is up to 9,931 snaps on defense and special teams in the regular season and playoffs) and that puts tremendous wear and tear on his body. It makes sense that he’s slowing down and becoming less effective as he ages.

It’s just a shame that the players brought in to replace him haven’t been up to the task. First-round draft picks Marcus Davenport and Payton Turner, and even underrated free agent pickup Tanoh Kpassagnon, have missed time with injuries. Carl Granderson is throwing a lot of spin moves at opposing blockers with little success. Until everyone is healthy and firing on all cylinders, the Saints are stuck in a tough spot by asking a top-30 defensive end to handle a top-5 player’s workload.

That doesn’t mean Jordan is washed up and can’t play. Far from it. He’s a very good run defender and a complimentary pass rusher. He can help almost any defense in this league, which should make him an attractive trade piece next summer when he’s 33 and counting $22.6 million against the salary cap, the fourth-largest cap hit on the team. Only Marshon Lattimore ($27.4 million) and Ryam Ramczyk ($22.8 million) are ahead, but their recent contract extensions were designed with restructures in mind. Michael Thomas ($24.7 million) is also in the mix.

Cutting or trading Jordan early in the offseason won’t be an option; it only saves $1.4 million while leaving a $21.4 million dead money on the books. But doing so after June 1 will create $14.7 million in savings. There’s still an $8.1 million dead money charge in 2022 weighing in, but the bulk of the cap penalties doesn’t factor in until 2023 ($13.2 million, coinciding with a huge rise in the salary cap with new media deals money flooding in, making it more manageable).

There’s still time for Jordan to turn it around. If he starts finishing those plays better and stacking up more sacks instead of hits or hurries, maybe the Saints consider another restructure (saving $8.5 million) or extension in the future so he can finish his career in black and gold. We haven’t seen the defensive line at full strength yet and Jordan should benefit once Davenport and David Onyemata return. Right now he just hasn’t justified his contract.

We just can’t ignore the possibility that Jordan is nearing the end of the line. He’s been everything the Saints could have hoped for when they drafted him way back in 2011. He’s a Pro Bowl regular, a team captain, and a face of the franchise. Seeing him play for another team would be really tough. Losing both him and star left tackle Terron Armstead in the same offseason would be even more difficult. But the post-Drew Brees era in New Orleans is going to be full of changes and tough decisions, and fans should start making their peace with it sooner rather than later.

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Broncos OLB Von Miller named AFC Defensive Player of the Month

Von Miller’s first month back from an ankle injury: 6 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, six QB hits, four sacks. He’s BACK!

Von Miller is officially back!

After missing all of the 2020 season with an ankle injury, Denver Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller has returned in style to begin the 2021 campaign.

Through the first three games of the season, Miller has totaled eight tackles, six quarterback hits, six tackles behind the line of scrimmage (tied for the most in the NFL) and four sacks (second-most in the AFC).

Those impressive totals earned Miller AFC Defensive Player of the Month honors for September, the league announced Thursday. This marks the fourth time in his career that Miller has earned DPOM recognition.

For the Broncos overall, this marks the 12th time one of their defenders has received DPOM honors. Denver’s last non-Miller players to earn the recognition were DeMarcus Ware (Sept. 2015) and Champ Bailey (Oct. 2006, Nov. 2005).

Miller has now totaled 110 sacks in his career, which ranks 23rd on the NFL’s all-time sack list. Miller needs 28 more sacks to join Ware in the Top 10 on the league’s all-time list.

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