{"id":2301,"date":"2016-01-21T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-01-21T17:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spijue.wpengine.com\/news\/denvers-miller-harris-back-for-afc-title-game\/"},"modified":"2016-01-21T09:00:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-21T17:00:44","slug":"denvers-miller-harris-back-for-afc-title-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/news\/denvers-miller-harris-back-for-afc-title-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Denver’s Miller, Harris back for AFC title game"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENVER<\/strong> \u2014 Backslaps for the backups.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all pass-rusher Von Miller and cornerback Chris Harris Jr. could provide the last time the New England Patriots played the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship.<\/p>\n

The backbone of Denver\u2019s dominant defense is ready for the rematch Sunday.<\/p>\n

Miller and Harris were out with ACL injuries two years ago in the Broncos\u2019 26-16 win over the Patriots, then watched helplessly from the sideline two weeks later as Seattle destroyed Denver\u2019s dismantled defense in the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

Denver\u2019s duo was eager to face Brady and Bill Belichick, the best QB\/coach combo in history with a record 22 playoff wins, a year later when the Broncos admittedly overlooked the Colts and never got that chance.<\/p>\n

Not this time.<\/p>\n

The top-seeded Broncos (13-4) took care of Pittsburgh and the second-seeded Patriots (13-4) beat Kansas City, setting up a rematch in the conference championship, a 17th and likely final meeting between Brady and Peyton Manning.<\/p>\n

Instead of providing moral support this time, Miller and Harris get the chance to dethrone the defending champs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Patriots come here, we\u2019re the No. 1 seed,\u201d Miller said. \u201cExactly how we had it before \u2014 but we get to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also sitting out that conference championship two years ago was Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who had an injured knee courtesy of then-Browns safety T.J. Ward, now delivering those big hits for these Broncos.<\/p>\n

Both Ward (ankle) and Gronkowski (knee) were knocked out of the game when these teams met in snowy Denver on Nov. 29, a game the Broncos won 30-24 in overtime.<\/p>\n

Also sitting out that game was receiver Julian Edelman, who\u2019s back in the Patriots\u2019 loaded lineup.<\/p>\n

Both Gronkowski and Edelman had monster games against the Chiefs. Edelman had 10 catches for 100 yards and Gronkowski had 83 yards and two touchdowns among his seven receptions.<\/p>\n

Miller realizes the task is a lot tougher this weekend than it was two months ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t want it any other way,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of playing in the National Football League: We\u2019ve got great players going against great players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of watching on crutches.<\/p>\n

Harris displayed his usual bravado this week even though he\u2019s dealing with a deeply bruised left shoulder that\u2019s been bothering him for three weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a veteran group, a veteran secondary. We have played against Brady tons of times. We have played against their offense a billion times,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n

Harris drew Patriots fans\u2019 ire this week by telling ESPN that if he had to cover Gronkowski 1-on-1, he\u2019d have to take out the talented tight end\u2019s knees. Gronkowski, who has a history of knee injuries, responded with an off-color retort on Twitter. Harris, however, won\u2019t face Gronkowski 1-on-1. That task would go to Ward or Aqib Talib.<\/p>\n

Either way, Harris and Miller are just glad they\u2019ll be suiting up for this one.<\/p>\n

Miller, the second overall pick in 2012 who is due for a huge pay raise in the offseason, and Harris, an undrafted free agent whose first bonus was $2,000 and his second one $10 million, saw their paths intertwined after getting hurt in 2013.<\/p>\n

They both had their knees fixed by Dr. James Andrews in Pensacola, Florida, and they became workout partners for six months. They reshaped their bodies through organic weight loss and a determination to take some stress off their repaired ligaments. Harris dropped a dozen pounds to 188 and Miller lost more than 25 to get down to 245.<\/p>\n

They got their mojo back.<\/p>\n

Miller, who had his right ACL repaired, has piled up 25 sacks over the last two seasons and earned All-Pro honors again in 2015. Harris, who had his left ACL repaired, went 35 games without giving up a touchdown and was named second-team All-Pro the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

With Miller and DeMarcus Ware providing the pressure and Talib and Harris locking down receivers, the four Pro Bowlers teamed up to create what Steelers coach Mike Tomlin labeled the best pressure-cover combination in football.<\/p>\n

One that will be tested Sunday.<\/p>\n

Denver led the league in total defense, sacks and pass defense, but New England\u2019s spread-and-shred offensive philosophy along with Brady\u2019s ultra-quick release is often indefensible and renders his suspect offensive line a non-factor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fully confident Chris and Talib and all those guys are going to be able to lock all that stuff down and give us a little bit of time,\u201d Miller said. \u201cHe\u2019s a great quarterback. Sometimes he doesn\u2019t even need an offensive line. He knows where he\u2019s going to throw the ball. He\u2019s got great guys that he\u2019s throwing the ball to. We\u2019ve just got to take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com\/AP_NFL<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http:\/\/twitter.com\/arniestapleton<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DENVER \u2014 Backslaps for the backups. That\u2019s all pass-rusher Von Miller and cornerback Chris Harris Jr. could provide the last time the New England Patriots played the Denver Broncos in the AFC championship. The backbone of Denver\u2019s dominant defense is ready for the rematch Sunday. Miller and Harris were out with ACL injuries two years […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":107,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","wds_primary_category":4,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-2301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/107"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2301"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juneauempire.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=2301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}