OutKick NFL Game Of The Week: Von Miller Has Prayer Answered, Gets Rams Debut

The Tennessee Titans visit the Los Angeles Rams Sunday night in what could be the NFL's most compelling game of the weekend. And if that's the weekend's most compelling game, then the most gripping storyline is how the Titans are going to play without running back Derrick Henry.

Yeah, this isn't about that.

Because on the other sideline, the Rams are making no secret of their Super Bowl aspirations for this season, and to prove it, they acquired star edge rusher Von Miller from the Denver Broncos on Monday.

Think about that.

The team that leads the NFL in sacks with 25 this week traded for one of the NFL's all-time great pass rushers in Miller, who has 110.5 careers sacks, including 4.5 this season.

"It feels like a movie," Miller said this week.

Broncos general manager George Paton, seeing his team merely treading water with a 4-4 record, decided getting a second- and third-round pick from the Rams in 2022 was a better option than keeping the 32-year-old Miller.

"From coming in to a workout on Monday, I was in the training room and they said that George wants to talk to me," Miller said. "I've been in the league 11 years, so I already knew what this talk was going to be about. And initially it hurt. I've been saying it kind of felt like removing a splinter. At first it hurts bad.

"I've been there for 11 years, I don't know anything else. I was a Denver Bronco, and they told me I was getting traded to the Rams."

Miller has been a team leader and was a cornerstone of a Denver team that won Super Bowl 50 in February 2016. But that memory suddenly became more distant than Miller ever expected just one day before.

"I said all my good-byes, looking at my house and looking at all the memories I had throughout 11 years, it was tough," Miller said. "When I took off Tuesday morning, though, and I had a nice view of the mountains, I told myself, 'Hey, taking off, I'm a Denver Bronco. When I land, I'm a Los Angeles Ram.'"

Miller has embraced that thinking and, why not? He's probably better off.

"It's starting to feel good, starting to feel real good," he said. "You look at all the talent that we have. I went to sleep 4-4 and woke up 7-1. In the back end of things, it's not really that bad.

"I get to play with Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Floyd, Matthew Stafford and a solid offensive line. They got a solid team. The Denver Broncos? They're still family and stuff, but this team is ready to win championships right now."

Miller is apparently already in an L.A. mindset because he's thinking of sequels.

"You hear stories of the Fearsome Foursome," he said, referring to the 1960s Rams front four. "We want to recreate that. They've been playing great defense all year. I just want to add to that."

Miller is a praying man. He is quite open about that. And this trade is a surprising and unexpected answer to his prayers.

"A guy told me on Monday, 'You want to make God laugh? Make plans,'" Miller said. "I had plans to retire a Denver Bronco and do all these things. But I'm here. And this is great.

"When I think about it, this is what I prayed for. It wasn't truly this. I didn't pray to get traded and go to the Los Angeles Rams, but I prayed for my team to improve. I prayed to win again, to go to a Super Bowl again. I prayed to be able to make game-changing plays on a winning team.

"I wasn't able to do it on the Denver Broncos, and He brought me here. It's a true blessing."

Follow on Twitter: @ArmandoSalguero