5 reasons the Denver Broncos will still play in Super Bowl 51

Despite losing the Admiral to retirement, the Denver Broncos are still the team to beat in the AFC. Here’s why they’ll dominate the playoffs and represent their conference in Super Bowl 51.

The defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos have seen a lot of changes since last season. To say their championship roster was dominant would be an understatement.

Only nine short months ago, this team carried many players who were arguably the best at their position in the league. However, as most teams do after a successful year, the Broncos lost some key members to free agency and retirement.

After four productive seasons as Denver’s fearless leader, Peyton Manning said goodbye to the NFL after 18 years. Following a neck injury that would see him sidelined for all of 2011, Manning took over as the Broncos’s signal caller in 2012 and looked like he never missed a game.

The Admiral led his team to an impressive 45-12 regular season record, securing a postseason berth in all four seasons. His retirement obviously left the franchise with some big questions to answer on offense.

The defense also faced questions after losing several key members, including defensive end Malik Jackson and linebacker Danny Trevathan, both of whom left in free agency.

Lucky for the franchise, general manager John Elway knows what he’s doing, and has built a 53-man roster more than capable of coping with those losses. Here’s why Denver is good enough to make it to the Super Bowl for the second time in as many years.

5. Von Miller

If there was any question about the face of the Broncos franchise before the Admiral retired, there is none now. Von Miller is the leader of this team.

Currently four games into his sixth NFL season, Miller has 65.5 quarterback sacks in 76 career games, recording 5.5 of those this year alone. Still only 27 years old, he should have no problem shattering many records at his position.

Miller has already celebrated four Pro Bowl nominations, been named First-Team All-Pro twice and was last year’s Super Bowl MVP. His long list of accolades is almost unheard of for a player his age.

He’s considered by many to be the absolute best at his position in the NFL, and is unquestionably one of the best players in the game today. Though his size (6-foot-3, 249 pounds) is nothing extraordinary, his athleticism and speed around the corner give him an edge when getting to the quarterback.

In the offseason, he initially refused the Broncos’ franchise tag offer because it didn’t include enough guaranteed money in the event of an injury. That refusal earned Miller a six-year, $114.5 million dollar contract, with $42 million guaranteed upon signing.

The Broncos would have been crazy not to lock Miller up long-term, especially over a contract dispute. They now have the champion their franchise desperately needs, not to mention the cornerstone of their feared defense.

Next: The elusiveness of CJ Anderson