Houston

[Justin5772002]

Published: Nov. 27, 2013 at 08:08 p.m.
Updated: Nov. 27, 2013 at 11:26 p.m.
Chiefs' Justin Houston (elbow) could miss 2 to 3 weeks


Marc Sessler
Around the League Writer


What's different about Broncos vs. Chiefs?
The Kansas City Chiefs have a better idea about when they'll have Justin Houston back in the lineup.


NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday that the Chiefs' premier pass rusher won't need surgery, but could miss two to three weeks with the dislocated elbow he suffered in Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers, according to a pair of sources informed of the MRI results.


Testing revealed the presence of sprained ligaments and torn muscles in the elbow, but the timeline is better news than some expected after swelling prevented the outside linebacker from undergoing an MRI earlier in the week.


With Houston's fellow edge rusher Tamba Hali battling a "slight" ankle sprain, the Chiefs won't badger quarterbacks to the same degree, but both should be fully operational before long.


A three-week absence for Houston would leave Kansas City vulnerable this Sunday against the Denver Broncos, but the following two weeks bring the beatable Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders. The Chiefs -- even with Houston and Hali in the fold -- haven't rushed the passer as effectively over the past month, but this remains the AFC's most dangerous duo of outside linebackers.


The latest "Around The League Podcast" previewed all three of the big Thanksgiving games on the schedule.

[matthewschiefs]

Well it's not the worst news so I'll take it

[loyalchief91]

Agreed

[ctchiefsfan]

Yup. Could have been a lot worse.

[Canada]

With Justin Houston on the field this season, opposing QBs are posting a 27.9 Total QBR and have thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes. Without Houston, opposing QBs have been much more productive. A look at the stats:

Category With Without
Comp pct. 54.8 65.6
Total QBR 27.9 94.4
Yards per att 6.7 10.8
TD-INT 10-12 3-0

[TopekaRoy]

With Justin Houston on the field this season, opposing QBs are posting a 27.9 Total QBR and have thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes. Without Houston, opposing QBs have been much more productive. A look at the stats:

Category With Without
Comp pct. 54.8 65.6
Total QBR 27.9 94.4
Yards per att 6.7 10.8
TD-INT 10-12 3-0

Opposing QBs? That would be Phillip Rivers, wouldn't it? He's a very good QB and that's a pretty small sample size to draw any broad conclusions from.

But there is no question our defense will be hampered by Houston being out and Hali being "hobbled." Let's hope the other guys step up their games and find a way to limit yards after the catch. That's gonna be tough against the Broncos.

After last week, I'm expecting a shoot-out. And that doesn't scare me nearly as much as it did a couple of weeks ago!

[Eydugstr]

After last week, I'm expecting a shoot-out. And that doesn't scare me nearly as much as it did a couple of weeks ago!

Agreed. If those recievers show up as determined as they did last Sunday, Denver will have it's hands full trying to light up the scoreboard while dealing with Arrowhead's noise.

[ctchiefsfan]

I've been working too much to watch the rewind of the San Diego game, but maybe somebody can explain to me just WTF happened in that game. How did we go from an anemic Offense to one that put up 38 points?

Did our receivers suddenly turn into Supermen?

Did our Offensive line suddenly turn into the Berlin Wall?

Did Alex Smith suddenly discover his inner Joe Montana?

Did San Diego's pass defenders sleep through the game?

Did Andy Reid call his very best offensive plays of the season?

Looking at San Diego's schedule, I see that prior to the game against our Chiefs, San Diego had allowed an average of 21.6 points per game and the most they had allowed in the 10 games before the Chief's game was 31 points and that the most points San Diego had allowed since September 15 was 28 points. Since September 15 they had allowed an average of just 19.4 points per game. So how in hell did our Offense score 25% more points against San Diego than anyone else had? How did our Offense score TWICE AS MANY POINTS as the average San Diego had allowed for the last 8 games?

Can somebody explain to me how our Offense put up 38 points against a team that while no defensive powerhouse, has certainly not had a defense made of swiss cheese?

Most importantly, was our offensive performance against San Diego something we are going to be able to replicate for the rest of the season?

[brdempsey69]

^^ All of the above, plus they incorporated more play-action passing than in any of the previous games.

[ctchiefsfan]

If our Offense can look closer to that than what they were for the first 10 games and our Defense can get healthy and back on track then the playoffs could be VERY INTERESTING!

While I hate having lost that game the performance of the Offense was VERY encouraging. Hoping we see more of it down the homestretch.