Kansas City Chiefs: Pass Rush Not Getting Better

The Kansas City Chiefs have struggled to put pressure on the opposing quarterback this season.  With Justin Houston’s return still uncertain, the Chiefs have to do something to fix this issue.

The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off of an impressive defensive victory over the New York Jets.  However, one area of the Chiefs defense was noticeably lacking on Sunday.  Kansas City failed to get after Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.  This is a concerning trend for the Chiefs moving forward.  Bob Sutton and his defensive staff have to come up with a way to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.

Of course, it’s not completely fair to hold this against the Chiefs coaching staff.  Everyone expected star pass rusher Justin Houston to be ready to go this year.  All the signs, including an all clear from Dr James Andrews, pointed to Houston being ready to go for 2016.  Unfortunately, an offseason surgery to repair his knee derailed all of those plans.  Houston is out until Week 7 at the earliest.

In the meantime, the Kansas City Chiefs have been relying on a combination of Dee Ford, Tamba Hali, and Frank Zombo to man the outside linebacker positions.  That group hasn’t played terribly as a whole, but has been underwhelming as far as getting after the passer.  The Chiefs aren’t getting it done on the outside, and something needs to happen there.

At the heart of this issue is third year linebacker Dee Ford.  Ford has yet to live up to his first round pick status, especially as a pass rusher.  The Chiefs drafted Dee Ford because of his pass rush ability.  However, he has yet to develop anything beyond his speed rush.  Ford is consistently man-handled by opposing linemen.  This is leaving many Chiefs fans wondering what can be done to fix the issue.

Here are the options the Chiefs have…