The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos for the night straight time on Sunday — this edition of the streak ending with a 23-3 victory at Arrowhead Stadium. In the two games between them this season, the Chiefs outscored the Broncos a combined 53-9.
Broncos linebacker Von Miller, who has been a member of the team for each and every loss, spoke to the media after the game, didn’t back in his opening statement.
“Tough loss,” said a dejected Miller. “It’s hard because I really don’t even know what to say. I don’t know how we got to this point. I don’t know how we win like this, I really don’t. It’s tough being where we’re at. It’s tough being 30 years old and going out there with whatever issues I’m dealing with and still coming up so short.
“It’s tough playing nine years with Chris Harris and dealing with these last couple of years, especially with the standard that we have whenever we came into the league. We went to the playoffs for five years straight.”
The Broncos were 8-2 against the Chiefs during that stretch.
“We’ve tried everything,” added Miller, who had two tackles and a sack in the loss. “We’ve tried everything on and off the football field. We’ve tried all different coaches, all different players. I really don’t know what’s going on. If I did, I would be the first to execute whatever plan it is to make everything better. I’m just at a loss for words.”
Miller sounds like a player who may want out of Denver, which, for the first time in a long time, seems possible this offseason. Miller’s current contract includes a potential out — after the season, the Broncos can choose whether to pick up an option that lock Miller in for two more seasons or walk away from the deal.
An opt-out may be attractive for a player who believes Denver may be a far cry from making the playoffs again.
“I don’t even want to think about that,” said Miller. “I just want to be competitive in one game. I don’t want to think about playoffs or divisional games, I just want to be competitive in this game, the game that we have coming up next, this play, this half, this quarter even. I just want to be competitive in what we’re doing right now. I don’t want to look down the road, let’s just get one now. One play, one win. It’s just been slipping away from us for way too long.”
As for this year’s Chiefs team, he was honest in saying he believes they could go on a deep run.
“They have a really great team. Whenever you get to the playoffs, it gets kind of shaky. Some teams win and some teams lose, some teams go on streaks. You just have to get into the tournament and they definitely have a team that is fitting for the tournament.”