In a game that featured strong game strategies on both offense and defense, a Buffalo Bills pass rusher accomplished a personal feat.
Von Miller recorded a sack in the second quarter of Buffalo’s dominant Week 2 win over the Miami Dolphins, his second quarterback takedown of the young season after going nearly two calendar years without recording a sack. This was uncharacteristic but not necessarily unexpected for the NFL’s all-time active sack leader, as he tore his ACL midway through the 2022 season; he did not return until Week 5 of the following season and looked like a shadow of his former self, totaling three tackles and zero sacks in the 2023 season.
There was a lot of talk around the organization this offseason about Miller’s regained form, with his play being praised on multiple levels both at the end of the 2023 season and during the summer. He has carried his summer strength into the new season, recording two sacks in two games.
Related: Bills DE Von Miller looks back on his first sack in nearly two years
The takedowns weren’t necessarily spectacular, but they still count in the stats. Miller’s sack on Thursday allowed him to climb slightly up the NFL record list, as he now ranks 18th on the NFL all-time sack list with 125.5 sacks, tied with longtime Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Dwight Freeney.
Von Miller with the sack, which puts him in 18th place on the NFL’s all-time sack list with HOF DE Dwight Freeney (125.5).
— Buffalo Bills PR (@BuffaloBillsPR) 13 September 2024
Miller’s status as a future Hall-of-Famer has long been unanimously recognized, and the fact that he’s now tied with a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in career sack count lends some credence to that idea. Given his current pace, the pass rusher could realistically surpass Derrick Thomas (126.5), Rickey Jackson (128), Leslie O’Neal (132.5), Lawrence Taylor (132.5) and John Abraham (133.5) in career sack count this season, which would put him 13th on the all-time sack list.
Buffalo fans know it, but the NFL player with the most sacks of all time is longtime Bills defensive lineman Bruce Smith, who recorded 200 sacks in his nearly 20-year career. It’s hard to imagine Miller, now 35, ever coming anywhere close to that total, but his new form has given Buffalo’s pass rush a welcome boost; that he’s earning individual accolades along the way is just a bonus.
— Enjoy free coverage of the Buffalo Bills on SI —
