Von Miller makes bold vow to fans despite four-game losing streak

DENVER — “We have to get over this and move on to Arizona,” Vance Joseph said following the Denver Broncos 23-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.

Not so fast there, coach.

“You gotta be hurting after losses like this. It’s just not something you should rub off and say ‘We’re going to be better next time.’ No, it shouldn’t work like that. We should be hurting when you lose,” Broncos’ star player Von Miller said just moments after Joseph.

“You should be hurting; you shouldn’t be laughing. It should wear on you. It should really bother you to lose at this level.”

With his fuzzy hoodie wrapped around his head, the star pass rusher was nearly unrecognizable from his happy-go-lucky self, instead, looking as if he wanted to go bury himself in his sorrows.

But before he could get home and hit the game film tucked under his covers, Von made a promise to Broncos Country.

“I’ve got to do better and I’ve started — I will do better,” Miller pledged. “That’s the world I like to live in. Von’s play hasn’t been what it’s supposed to be for my teammates to be successful. I’ll get it done. I’ve been saying it for two weeks. I will definitely get it done. I have never got up here and lied to you guys, not one time. That’s definitely No. 1 on my list — I will be better.”

To be fair, statistically, Von didn’t have a bad game, racking up 1.5 sacks, two quarterback hits, a tackle for a loss and five combined tackles. However, he took a significant amount of the blame for the poor run defense, which gave up back-to-back 200-yard rushers for the first time in NFL history.

But more importantly than just his play, the Super Bowl MVP made another, more important vow.

“We’ll get this fixed. We’ll get this all fixed,” Miller stated as a fact. “We got a great team. We got a great locker room. A four-game losing streak is tough. Especially being 2-4. You can look at it and be negative about it — 2-4, whatever you want to say about it — but the world I live in, we’re 2-4, we still got a long season.”

The team captain’s statement is bold, especially considering his team is on a four-game losing streak and the calls for a new quarterback and coaching staff grow louder every day.

Miller is hoping his team embraces what Friedrich Nietzsche, or more recently Kelly Clarkson, said: What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

With the Broncos’ season not statistically dead just yet, Miller’s hoping a 2-4 start makes them tougher as they near the midway point.

“It’s a championship fight. You lose a couple rounds at the beginning. Just keep playing and find out where we end up,” Von said, hoping his team goes down swinging, if they end up going down.

“The No. 1 responsibility for all of us is to win, and we are not doing that. I’m not doing that. It should hurt. It should feel bad, and if we all feel the same way that I’m feeling, we’ll be great.”