Kansas City Chiefs: Pass rush more prominent in past two games

By Leigh Oleszczak | Oct 3, 2018

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 1: Justin Houston (50) of the Kansas City Chiefs tackles Case Keenum (4) of the Denver Broncos during the first quarter. The Denver Broncos hosted the Kansas City Chiefs at Broncos Stadium at Mile High in Denver, Colorado on Monday, October 1, 2018. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post via Getty Images) /

One of the biggest frustrations with the Kansas City Chiefs defense last year was their inability to get after the quarterback. The Chiefs pass rush has shown up these past two weeks.

After notching just two sacks throughout the first two weeks of the 2018 season, the Kansas City Chiefs pass rush has shown some explosiveness as of late. In week three against the 49ers, they got to Jimmy Garoppolo four times and in week four against the Broncos, KC totaled four sacks on Case Keenum.

Those eight sacks showed that this Chiefs pass rush is still a good one. The most interesting part of all of this is that it’s been three players who have made the most noise when it comes to sacking the quarterback. Those three guys are Allen Bailey, Dee Ford, and Justin Houston, all of whom have three sacks a piece. Rookie safety Armani Watts has the team’s other sack.

Let’s break this down a bit, shall we? Houston has failed to live up to his mega-contract that he signed a few years ago, but he’s looking like that same player from 2014 in the small sample size we’ve seen from him so far.

More from Kansas City Chiefs

Ford is in a contract year, so while some might be surprised at this type of production from him, I am not. Players always perform better in contract years and even though Ford hasn’t been the star pass rusher Chiefs fans had hoped he’d be, he has had some success in the past. How quickly we forget that at one point in 2016, Ford was one of the best in the league at sacking the quarterback.

Ford’s biggest problem, aside from his slow start, has always been injuries. He only appeared in six games last year and the year prior missed two starts due to injury. If Ford wants that big time contract, he needs to prove that A) He can stay healthy and B) He can consistently harass the quarterback.

Lastly, Allen Bailey, who is tied with Ford and Houston in sacks through four weeks. Bailey was a potential candidate to be cut this offseason mainly due to salary, but it’s a good thing the Chiefs kept him around. He’s looking like a whole new man out there on defense and already passed his total sack number from a season ago (he had just two in 2017).

With the rest of the Kansas City Chiefs defense looking like a dumpster fire so far this season, it’s been nice to see some juice from the pass rush. If those guys can continue doing their job, maybe the defense can start to make a bigger impact. That would be a huge difference maker for this Chiefs team.

Home/Kansas City Chiefs