Don’t look now but Kolton Miller might have just played the best game of his professional career on Sunday, and managed to do it against Khalil Mack, no less.
As a whole, the Raiders entire offensive line was outstanding against the Bears, but according to Pro Football Focus, Miller was the Raiders’ highest-rated offensive lineman in pass protection – despite the fact that the Bears were making a clear effort to target him with Mack.
In the Bears previous four games this season, Mack lined up on the left side of the Chicago defensive line (against the opposing right tackle) for 58% of his snaps. On Sunday, the Bears moved Mack to the right side (presumably to matchup with Miller) for 39 of the Bears 62 defensive snaps – or 63% percent of the time.
That was a significant adjustment.
On paper, it seemed like a good plan, but Miller worked hard to put on size and muscle in the offseason and has held up against some of the best pass rushers in the league this year. Somehow, Miller and the Raiders offensive line were able to keep Mack mostly invisible on Sunday.
For what it’s worth, Miller was also the Raiders second-highest rated run blocker against the Bears (behind Richie Incognito) and has improved as a run blocker in each of the past three weeks, according to Pro Football Focus. And how about one more little tidbit on Miller… through five games, his 62.1 overall PFF grade is well ahead of Mike McGlinchey (48.9), whom the 49ers memorably drafted ahead of Miller a year ago.
Guess that coin flip worked out alright after all.
twitter: @raidersbeat
