Do you think Von Miller and Bradley Chubb will combine for more than 30 sacks next season?

-- James Schroeder

Since my predictions are typically terrible, I consulted my magic 8-ball to answer your question. It said, "Cannot predict now."

The 8-ball seems aware of the fact that there could be changes coming around the defense that ought to make it more effective, but could result in pass-rush opportunities being spread around.

It also may be cognizant of the fear of a "sophomore slump" for Bradley Chubb, since the 10 previous players to have at least 12 sacks in their rookie campaigns saw their sack total drop by an average of 2.95 sacks in their second season. Just two of those 10 players increased their sack total.

One was Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White, who played in 13 games in his 1985 rookie season after arriving from the USFL's Memphis Showboats. He played all 16 games a year later and his total rose from 13 to 18. The other was former 49ers outside linebacker Aldon Smith, who built off his 14-sack rookie season in 2011 with a 19.5-sack performance in his second year before off-field troubles waylaid his career.

Smith's defensive coordinator was current Broncos Head Coach Vic Fangio, so this offers hope that he and his coaches can tap into Chubb's capability and turn a potential sophomore slump into a second-year surge.

But where the magic 8-ball fails, I lean on data and trends that demonstrate the rarity of the 30-sack milestone for two teammates. Since the league began keeping official sack totals in 1982, just six teams have featured 30-sack duos, with the most recent being the 2011 Vikings who had Jared Allen (22 sacks) and Brian Robison (8 sacks) combine for 30. Two-thirds of those six 30-sack parings came between 1983 and 1992, when most passing games were less predicated on short-to-intermediate routes.

No team has featured a pair that posted "more than" 30 sacks -- to take it back to the precise wording of your question -- since the 2000 Dolphins, who got 31 sacks from Trace Armstrong (16.5) and Jason Taylor (14.5).