DENVER -- On the sack that re-wrote the record books, nobody stood in Von Miller's way.
The second-year linebacker went unblocked en route to his 17.5th sack of the season, passing his teammate and edge-rushing counterpart, Elvis Dumervil.
While the record-breaking sack looked relatively easy, the journey to get there was anything but.
"I'm proud of him because he works hard -- he really wants to be the greatest," veteran cornerback Champ Bailey said. "Everything he does, there's hard work put into it. Trust me, I see it every day."
Miller didn't undervalue the significance of his accomplishment on Sunday, but he couldn't take all of the credit. He hasn't allowed that to happen all year, and nothing changed after he became the Broncos' single-season sack king.
"It means a lot," Miller said. "Individual accomplishments are great, but I think it just says the type of defense we're playing here, the type of teammates that I have and the type of coaches that I have over there at Dove Valley. It was a joint effort to get it done. Anybody could have gotten the record, I was just on the better end of some of the sacks."
That quality in the 23-year old is what Head Coach John Fox appreciates most - and also what has enabled him to become one of the most feared pass-rushers in the NFL.
"He's a team guy," Fox said. "He's not about personal accolades. He's about those (wins)."
Heading into the game with 16 sacks, he needed one sack to tie the record, 1.5 to break it.
On a third-down play in the third quarter, he was the first to get to quarterback Brandon Weeden, and it looked like he was about to grab a share of the record. But before he was able to bring the quarterback all the way down, Dumervil came in and helped finish it off, and the pair split credit for the sack.
Dumervil held onto the record for about seven more minutes. When Miller broke it just three Cleveland snaps later, the seventh-year defensive end was happy the player who did it was somebody he called "like (his) younger brother."
"If there is any guy who deserves it, it's him," Dumervil said. "We hugged each other. He's a special guy. If anybody I'd be happy and proud of for breaking the record, it's definitely Von. Well deserved. He's been dynamic all year. He has been consistent since Week 1. I'm happy for him."
The two nearly shared the Broncos single-season sack record. Since they became teammates last year, they have shared the ability to wreak havoc on opposing quarterbacks, and they have shared a mentality that it doesn't matter who gets there first - as long as someone gets the quarterback down.
"I went to him right after I got that second one and gave him a hug," Miller said. "I had talked to him about it - Elvis is a great guy - all that stuff doesn't matter to him. What matters is just playing the best football we can possibly play and taking this thing as far as we can. That's what matters most to me and I know that's what matters most to Elvis."
