Von Miller

Can the Buffalo Bills hold their defense together without Von Miller? They already have, so the answer should be in the affirmative.

Hockenson to get in Cousins’ face, and again, this was a four-man rush with no trickery — and no Miller on the field. The Bills had seven in the box pre-snap, and Jones had to decipher who was rushing and who was dropping. Losing a player of Miller’s excellence and experience is far from ideal, but McDermott and Frazier — along with general manager Brandon Beane — have built this defensive line to transcend the loss of one player, no matter who that might be. The Bills have used stunts to create pressure on 19 defensive snaps without Miller on the field this season, and seven of those stunts came against the Patriots in Week 13, when the Bills knew they wouldn’t have Miller at all. Where the Bills have succeeded without Miller this season, and they might want to ramp it up now, is with the use of line stunts. Johnson had Meyers to the boundary this time, and Jones had no shot. In his inaugural season with the Bills, Miller was on the field for 390 snaps, and off for 292. Johnson was one of the more creative blitz designers in NFL history, but the Bills as constructed lean more to Frazier’s history with the Colts, Vikings, and Buccaneers — you rely on your base four, get your linebackers involved, and dial up a few DB blitzes. On passing downs, he was on the field for 278 snaps, and off for 184. But if the Bills are to win their first Super Bowl, they’ll have to do it with Miller on the bench. We know how much this means to him in terms of playing and being with the team. Miller had already helped the Denver Broncos win Super Bowl 50 with an MVP performance, and he helped the Los Angeles Rams win Super Bowl LVI with a game that was MVP-worthy.