Gordon Opens Up on How Von Miller Inspired his Impressive Showing vs. Chiefs

There was a reason why Melvin Gordon took his play to another level in Week 13's loss to the Chiefs, finishing with 131 yards rushing.

Veteran running back Melvin Gordon has had a tough job convincing skeptical Denver Broncos fans of his worth during his first season in Orange and Blue. With multiple costly fumbles and a DUI arrest coming on the heels of his lucrative two-year, $16 million contract, Gordon has made himself an easy target, especially given the homegrown popularity of Phillip Lindsay within Broncos Country.

On Sunday Night Football, the 27-year-old ex-Charger went a long way toward getting that particular monkey off his back and winning over the fans. Gordon ran for 131 yards on 15 carries in the Broncos' 22-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

Gordon ran with intensity and physicality at Arrowhead, at times single-handedly sustaining drives and putting the Broncos in scoring position. We learned why post-game, as he opened up about the promise he made to an injured teammate which provided some extra gameday motivation.

“I had a conversation with Von [Miller] and one of the biggest things, I just told him that I kind of made a promise to myself that I would try to do whatever I can to try to put this team in a position to win and get him back out here and make a run,” Gordon said Sunday night. “I feel like we kind of got screwed last week with the quarterback situation or whatever, so that kind of hurt us. It’s about putting everything on the line, that’s just how I play. You’ve just got to go give it your all, regardless of the record.”

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As the Broncos slide towards another sub-.500 finish, it isn't easy for the players to keep their focus and commitment to playing hard. But Gordon's intensity stood out most throughout Sunday night's valiant losing effort. 

As the playoffs recede from view, it’s becoming increasingly unlikely that the Broncos would risk Miller's surgically repaired ankle. If this team was in the hunt, it might be a different story. 

Ever since Miller went down less than a week before the season-opener, major injury setbacks have dogged the Broncos. In the light of the NFL fatally hampering the Broncos' chances in Week 12, forcing them to all but forfeit their game vs. New Orleans, many have called the hard-fought Chiefs loss a moral victory of sorts.

Gordon wasn’t buying into that notion when he echoed head coach Vic Fangio’s assertion that despite taking much pride in running the defending champions down to the wire, nothing changes the fact they lost. There's no extra credit in the standings for a close game. 

“Playing a team in our division, it’s always going to be to be a good run and down to the wire,” Gordon said following the loss to the Chiefs. “I guess you can look at it positive, but with losing, not at all. That’s not our expectation. It’s nothing to be happy about anything. A lot of disappointment.”

Turning the multitude of recent negativity and slights into cohesive motivation has powered the Broncos over the last two weeks. As the season now becomes completely focused upon playing for pride, Gordon revealed that the locker room is cultivating a real ‘us against the world’ mentality.

“It’s just a mindset,” Gordon said. “I just believe when you’ve got the whole world telling you that you’re going to lose, you should listen to that and do something about it. Don’t come out here and settle for what everyone thinks it’s going to be. I believe that we can win this game, and believed that we could win this game. We came out with a chip on our shoulder. We tried to do what we could, but at the end of the day, they made more plays than we did.”

Gordon's assessment is certainly on the money. Small mistakes and a lack of execution in crunch-time are what separated the Broncos from the Chiefs currently, as well as a liberal sprinkling of Patrick Mahomes' unique magic. Taking some solace in the style of the defeat does little to improve the reality that the Broncos have now lost eight games. 

Still, the Broncos fell to the Chiefs at Arrowhead by a one-score margin (six points), which implies that all the best-laid plans of GM John Elway and Fangio are closing the competitive gap (inch by inch) with Kansas City, in spite of all the injuries and mitigating factors of this outlier of a 2020 season. Unfortunately, Mahomes isn't going anywhere and the Chiefs are going to be a thorn in Denver's side for the foreseeable future. 

A daunting and inconvenient reality. But all the motivation this club should need.  

For his part, Gordon posted his second 100-yard rushing game as a Bronco and the 11th of his NFL career. The NFL announced that he's been nominated for the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week award.

Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL and @MileHighHuddle.