Tagged: Kansas City Chiefs

January 25, 2015

#PayHouston

Justin Houston led the NFL in sacks with 22.0 on the season. Tied for the second most in NFL history.

Flashback to last year at this time. The Kansas City Chiefs had just begun to get over one of the worst playoff comeback loses of all time, and were starting to look at offseason moves that needed to be made. Outside of the draft, there were contracts that some thought should have been extended and things like that. They got many deals done, but one major contract that they did not deal with was 2013 pro-bowl OLB Justin Houston, who finished the 2013 season with 11.5 sacks.

Houston held out of training camp before the 2014 season, hoping to get a new contract. During that time, his projected contract was somewhere near 6 years and $50 million dollars (bleacherreport.com). The Chiefs did not give him a new contract, for whatever the reason.

Now, back to this year. Justin Houston has just finished his last season under contract for the Chiefs. A season that will go down as one of the best ever for a pass rusher, after Houston totaled up 22.0 sacks; second all-time in NFL history, for a single season. After such an elite season, that just so happens to be Houston’s contract year, the predictions for his salary have improved greatly. His new contract prediction is 6 years and $93 million dollars (spotrac.com).

This contract may seem like he is being overpaid, but in reality, it is not that bad of a deal. Compare it to Houston Texan J.J. Watt’s contract which was 6 years and $100 million dollars, and it really is not a bad deal at all, especially when the player that you are signing is one of the most ferocious pass rushers of recent memory.

Houston is not just a true pass rusher, like Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil. He also drops back into pass coverage quite often, making his sack totals even more imposing.

Chiefs’ fans want Houston signed to a deal so much that many of them took to Twitter and started the hashtag #PayHouston. Some of the biggest Chiefs blog accounts and Chiefs reporters have used this hashtag.

So, come on John Dorsey, #PayHouston.

November 21, 2014

Why the Chiefs Are Contenders In the AFC

Although the Chiefs do not have the best record in the AFC, at 7-3, they are serious contenders in the AFC, and have proven that to me during the first half of the season.

In the 2013 season the Chiefs started out 9-0 against sub-par competition and then went 2-6, including the postseason, to finish the season. The Chiefs secondary was horrendous in the second half of the 2013 season, when finally going against teams with a good quarterback, and that was the reason for both their bad second half record and their blown 38-10 lead in the Wild Card stage of the playoffs. In fact, they gave up 247.7 passing yards per game, 26th most in the NFL.

This year, on the other hand, the Chiefs have played the 7th hardest schedule of any NFL team so far, according to teamrankings.com. This schedule includes top tier teams such as Denver, San Francisco, New England, and San Diego. Against these teams, the Chiefs have split the games with a 2-2 record.

Out of their two wins against these teams, the Chiefs completely dominated 3 time Super Bowl Champion Tom Brady and the Patriots on Monday Night Football, 41-14. Then they “upset” the Chargers 23-20.

In their two losses against these teams, the Chiefs lost to the Broncos 24-17, but had a chance to tie the game up on a 4th and 2 with 15 seconds left on the two-yard line. Then against the 49ers, the Chiefs were down 5 and had a chance to win with just over 2 minutes to play, and they threw an interception, which sealed the game for the 49ers, 22-17.

Going back to pass defense, the Chiefs have faced stellar competition, as far as quarterbacks go, and have only allowed 205.3 passing yards per game (ESPN.com), which ranks 1st in the NFL, up 25 spots from 26th in the NFL in 2013.

The improved pass defense, along with the 6th most time of possession averaging 31 minutes per game (Sportingcharts.com), having the 6th most rushing yards at 136.9 per game (ESPN.com), and being the only team that has not allowed a rushing touchdown this year proves to me that the Chiefs are a serious contender in the AFC and in the playoff race.

RB Jamaal Charles, QB Alex Smith, and DT Dontari Poe