I hope a lot of quarterbacks spent their Sundays wishing Von Miller a happy Father’s Day — maybe a call from Cam Newton, an open-mouth smooch from Tom Brady, a text from Philip Rivers perhaps (he was probably VERY busy).
The point is that he’s made a lot of quarterbacks (and right tackles) very, very unhappy since he entered the league in 2011 and immediately became a premier pass rusher for the Broncos.
Recently, though, a narrative has been invented that Oakland’s Khalil Mack is as good or better than Von. And that’s very clearly wrong. But perception is reality, and for the blasphemers that prop up their false prophet, their lies have become a small-T truth within their bubble of false knowledge.
See, I’m not exaggerating! There are real-life people who think this. Sad!
(Also, huge self-own on their part for wanting to tie down all of their cap resources to two players.)
In a Mack-Miller (not the rapper) debate, Raiders fans love to cherry pick various stats from Pro Football Focus — which I’m sure they don’t understand because most of them tapped out of math before pre-algebra, let alone statistics.
It’s a pretty easy argument for Broncos fans. Just show them the Super Bowl MVP, the 2.5 sacks and interception on FYTB two weeks before, the DROY, and that one play when he literally took the ball from Derek Carr for good measure.
Ask their peers, however, and they’ll give you the real story. Because they would know. Some know from personal experience. Anyways, they ranked Mack 16th overall in their annual Top 100 list which airs on NFL Network, and that’s pretty damn high. We don’t know where Von has been ranked, which is because his spot hasn’t yet been unveiled. Suffice to say he will make the list, though.
A MONSTER off the edge 💪@RAIDERS DE @52Mack_ is #16 on the countdown!#NFLTop100 pic.twitter.com/0UGt03sIWr
— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) June 19, 2018
Ah yes, 16, the max number of games the Raiders play in a season. Well, except the year they got shit-housed by Brock Osweiler in Houston. If you’re curious, Khalil Mack contributed precisely zero quarterback hits in that game, let alone a sack.
Look, if you can’t get to Brock Osweiler (who likes to hold the ball for roughly a full solar rotation) in the playoffs, how are you supposed to get to Tom Brady? I get the argument that Von Miller has had the benefit of an incredible secondary while Mack hasn’t (another self-own by Raiders fans).
But does this look like a coverage sack to you? Does it, Max Kellerman?
Good thing he had Talib and Harris locking down Edelman and Gronk long enough for him to finally get to the quarterback.
It happens quite a bit more often than you would think. Take a look at a head-to-head matchup with the Raiders.
Michael Crabtree is barely out of his stance and Von is already perpendicular to the right tackle. I couldn’t draw a better 90-degree angle if I had a protractor.
They’re correct. He does have a better secondary than Mack — but the secondary can also say the same thing about Von, who probably makes them better than they make him.
I would argue that Von has had it tougher than Mack because Von hasn’t had the benefit of playing against Michael Schofield, Donald Stephenson, and Ty Sambrailo. Those are free sacks, and I don’t blame Mack for taking them, but it doesn’t make him the second coming of Reggie White.
Just for good measure, let’s see how that play turned out.
It just never gets old, does it?
I’m also waiting for Khalil Mack to run stride-for-stride with a wide receiver down the field (kind of an important moment, too).
Don’t get me wrong, Khalil Mack is a great player. But he’s very obviously not the greatest player at his position. 16th on the Top 100 seems appropriate.
Of course, we’ll have to wait a little longer to see Von Miller, and that’s quite alright with me.
