Kolton Miller shut out Bradley Chubb

The biggest question mark heading into the Raiders’ Monday night opener against the Broncos was whether the Raiders could hold up in pass protection against Von Miller and Bradley Chubb, who combined for 26.5 sacks last season. But in the Raiders’ 24-16 win, Chubb and Miller didn’t touch quarterback Derek Carr. Not only did they not record a sack, they didn’t even register a quarterback hit, which is the first time that has happened to the Broncos since 2014.

It wasn’t a huge surprise that Raiders right tackle Trent Brown would play well against Miller. The Raiders gave Brown a four-year, $66-million free-agent deal last offseason to play the right side against elite pass rushers. The biggest issue was whether left tackle Kolton Miller could hold up against Chubb.

Miller had a miserable rookie year after being drafted 15th overall in 2018. He persevered through a knee injury, but for the most part he was a liability. Meanwhile, Chubb had a great rookie season. Miller added weight in the offseason and is healthy now, but going into the game, this did not look like a good matchup for the Raiders. When it was over, though, Miller came out victorious.

Cut block
Miller looked much improved from a technical standpoint, but he also had help from an excellent offensive game plan by Jon Gruden.

“Just mixing up plays, quick game, running inside zone slowed down (Chubb’s) pass rush a little bit,” Miller said when asked how he stopped Chubb.

Quick-game plays are concepts that include short timing patterns like hitches, slants and speed outs. With quick-game plays, quarterbacks are either taking three-step drops from under center or just throwing quickly from the gun. They aren’t far from the line of scrimmage, so offensive linemen have to be aggressive in pass protection to limit penetration and get the pass rushers’ hands down.

Raiders offensive line coach Tom Cable is known for his willingness to experiment and develop project players. Against the Broncos, Cable seemed to be experimenting with a an interesting cut-blocking technique with his tackles. I haven’t seen it before. That doesn’t mean it hasn’t been used — I just haven’t seen it.

Usually, the most important rule of blocking is to protect your inside. Blockers can’t give rushers a straight line toward the quarterback. They want to make rushers go around them. But when Brown or Miller attempted a cut block on Monday, their aiming point seemed to be the inside knee of the pass rusher’s outside leg. They weren’t necessarily giving up the inside because theoretically, pass rushers still had to step over their flattened bodies.

This is a risky technique because if the blocker missed, the rusher would have a straight path inside to the quarterback. However, the results were good. Carr wasn’t touched and the Broncos were only able to bat one pass down at the line of scrimmage.

Vertical set
One of Miller’s biggest flaws coming out of college was a false step he habitually took out of his pass sets. He seemed to fix this bad habit early last season, but it came back as the season progressed. Against the Broncos, his vertical set looked much improved. I didn’t see the false step and he looked more patient and in control.

On the Raiders’ touchdown on the first drive of the game, Miller set a little wide. He likely was afraid of Chubb’s speed. But he correctly stepped with his outside foot without a hitch or false step from his inside foot.

He knew he was a little wide and adjusted to Chubb’s position. Miller anticipated the bull rush and anchored down, which is another area in which he struggled last year. He got pushed back a little but absorbed most of the force and was able to shove Chubb to the ground. Chubb got close to Carr, but Carr still had time to make the throw. And if he hadn’t thrown the ball when he did, Carr could have stepped up in the pocket.

Varying technique
What was most improved about Miller’s performance was that he was confident enough to use different sets and vary his technique.

Here, he faked a cut block to freeze Chubb before aggressively engaging with him. He did a good job of resetting and hit Chubb with a second punch after Chubb swiped away his initial punch. It takes an athletic and confident tackle to try to pull off this maneuver against a capable pass rusher. Miller lost his balance at the end, but he gave Carr plenty of time to throw.

In the clip above, the Raiders ran a play-action concept in which the offensive line had to sell the run, too. Miller had to come off the ball aggressively as if he was going to run block. This isn’t easy for an offensive lineman to do because it potentially puts him in terrible position to pass block if the defensive line doesn’t buy the fake.

Miller did a masterful of job of playing in space, maintaining his inside leverage and staying on Chubb’s midpoint. He kept Chubb outside but was in position to counter an inside move. Chubb fell for the play fake and braced himself for a run rather than aggressively pass rushing, in part because of Miller’s acting job.

Added strength
Miller’s work in the weight room seems to be paying off. He looks like he has a much stronger base. Last year, when rushers got past him, he was athletic enough to sort of lightly direct their momentum upfield so Carr could step up.

On Monday, when Chubb got past him, there were a couple of instances when Miller was able to shove Chubb to the ground even when Miller was in a disadvantaged position.

Athleticism
Before and after he was drafted, we heard about Miller’s athleticism and it certainly flashed as a rookie. But his poor technique often overshadowed his athleticism. Now that he’s cleaned up his technique, he’s starting to make plays that are uncommon for tackles.

Here, Miller was set a little wide. Chubb got inside, but Miller was able to get low, recover and drive Chubb all the way across the line where right guard Denzelle Good eagerly awaited to pancake Chubb. That looked like it hurt.

On the final drive of the game, the Raiders faced a third-and-8 with a chance to finish off the victory. It was unlikely that the Raiders could pick up a first down on the ground, but they didn’t want to risk an incomplete pass and stop the clock.

Carr suggested to Gruden that they should run the tunnel screen to Tyrell Williams, which was the perfect call for how the Broncos lined up. It was a high-percentage pass against off-coverage, so even if Williams was tackled before picking up the first down, the Broncos would’ve been forced to burn their final timeout. The play required Miller to quickly release outside and block cornerback Isaac Yiadom.

“(Yiadom) tried to cut upfield, so he turned his hips,” said Miller after the game. “He didn’t try to face me or cut me so I got him off balance, made a good play and we got the first down to close out the game.”

Though Carr is improving his ability to play under pressure, he is a completely different quarterback when he is well protected.

Even with all of the additions that the Raiders made this offseason, Miller’s development was one of the biggest keys to the offense’s success and so far, so good. Miller won’t get many easy matchups in the AFC West, but after Monday’s performance, he looks ready to step up to the challenge.