I didn't write it, just relaying the message

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

By some important measures, Chiefs are better with Justin Houston in pass coverage

Adam Teicher
ESPN Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The pass rush hasn’t been productive during the Kansas City Chiefs’ two-game losing streak and the solution seems on the surface to be obvious. The Chiefs need to send their best pass rusher, outside linebacker Justin Houston, after the quarterback more frequently.

Houston rushes the quarterback about three times for every occasion he drops into pass coverage, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

But what’s interesting is that while their pass rush is better when Houston rushes the quarterback, their pass defense isn’t as good overall. That suggests that perhaps defensive coordinator Bob Sutton is doing the right things with Houston on the whole. Houston leads the Chiefs in sacks with 5.5, but he’s good in coverage as well.

Some of the stats:

-- Houston has rushed the quarterback 199 times, as opposed to 63 times he’s dropped into coverage. This includes 11 times when the opposing quarterback has scrambled after dropping to pass.

-- The Chiefs have 12 sacks when Houston rushes and two when he’s in coverage. They also have four of their five interceptions when he’s chasing the QB.

-- The completion percentage is almost the same, 52.8 percent when he’s rushing against 52.5 percent when he’s dropped into coverage.

-- The Chiefs are allowing many of their long pass plays when Houston is rushing the quarterback. The Chiefs have allowed nine passes of 35 or more yards with Houston in their lineup. Eight have come with him rushing the QB and one when he’s in coverage.

That explains why the opposing QB has a better passer rating when Houston rushes the quarterback (89.9) than when he’s in coverage (81.5).

The Chiefs are also better on pass defense when their other outside linebacker, Dee Ford, drops into coverage as opposed to when he rushes the QB. Opponents are completing 59.1 percent of their passes with Ford rushing the quarterback and 29.2 percent when he’s in coverage. Opposing quarterbacks have an 82.6 rating when Ford rushes, a 31.6 rating when he’s covering.

The Chiefs have played 114 snaps with both Houston and Ford rushing the quarterback. Opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 82.9 and a completion percentage of 58.1. They’ve played 13 snaps with both in coverage. Opponents have a passer rating of 51.4 and a completion percentage of 25.

[chiefzilla1501]

The outrage is a little ridiculous. He goes in coverage a lot because he is terrific for an olb at it. He is the most versatile olb in the game. If he's not doing that, especially given our shitburger olbs, we'd get carved up on underneath shit.

[Simply Red]

Fuck you!

[Simply Red]

Thank you

[Chiefshrink]

What I have said all along that Sutton is trying to make chicken salad out of chicken manure. Of course Sutton would love to rush Houston more but he cannot afford to because we lack talent therefore Sutton has to pay homage to Greg Robinson's "bend but don't break":#

[Hammock Parties]

1 sack every 16.5 pass attempts when he rushes

1 sack every 31.5 pass attempts when he doesn't.

Justin Houston literally DOUBLES our pass rush productivity.

[Chiefshrink]

1 sack every 16.5 pass attempts when he rushes

1 sack every 31.5 pass attempts when he doesn't.

Justin Houston literally DOUBLES our pass rush productivity.

Imagine of our DBs were good dance partners anticipating/following very closely the next step?

[Molitoth]

I don't care what anyone says, you pay the man to rush the QB.
Nobody is going to sway that opinion.

I watch other defenses get a ton of pressure up front, while I watch ours drop back and let the QB have all day to throw.

[JakeF]

1 sack every 16.5 pass attempts when he rushes

1 sack every 31.5 pass attempts when he doesn't.

Justin Houston literally DOUBLES our pass rush productivity.
Our secondary play would improve dramatically with a consistent pass rush. They could start jumping the shorter routes if they knew that we were going to pressure the QB with any reliability.

Put Houston on the line of scrimmage and let the man eat.

Hell, I would rather put Houston and Ford on the line of scrimmage and rush 5 guys on every play. Force the offense to deal with the pressure and let our secondary take advantage of the mistakes.

[Chiefshrink]

Our secondary play would improve dramatically with a consistent pass rush. They could start jumping the shorter routes if they knew that we were going to pressure the QB with any reliability.

Put Houston on the line of scrimmage and let the man eat.

Hell, I would rather put Houston and Ford on the line of scrimmage and rush 5 guys on every play. Force the offense to deal with the pressure and let our secondary take advantage of the mistakes.

Thoroughly, thoroughly agree with you wholeheartedly IF we had the talent. Many "think" we do have enough talent but we don't IMHO as time goes on. Don't get me wrong Sutton isn't blameless but.....

[O.city]

I don't care what anyone says, you pay the man to rush the QB.
Nobody is going to sway that opinion.

I watch other defenses get a ton of pressure up front, while I watch ours drop back and let the QB have all day to throw.

I get tired of watching the chiefs front 7 play passive. It was the same thing people hated during the crennel times.

[CoMoChief]

Also getting fucking tired of seeing Chiefs DB's line up almost 10yds off the los.

[JakeF]

Thoroughly, thoroughly agree with you wholeheartedly IF we had the talent. Many "think" we do have enough talent but we don't IMHO as time goes on. Don't get me wrong Sutton isn't blameless but.....People say that Peters is elite and Parker is great. Nelson is back he's supposed to be a very good slot guy. Mitchell is functional.

Why don't we have the talent?

[mcaj22]

how bad is your secondary that you have to alternate dropping either one of your OLBers in coverage when sitting in a Nickel package

[Eureka]

I don't care what anyone says, you pay the man to rush the QB.
Nobody is going to sway that opinion.

I watch other defenses get a ton of pressure up front, while I watch ours drop back and let the QB have all day to throw.

Situational football. If all he did was rush the other team would just game plan for that.

[bevischief]

Oh wait they just gave up 2 1st for a Qb...But not a pass rush....:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

[oldman]

I'd like to see both Houston and Ford/Zombo/Kpass on the same side just once in a while. Get Hali out of the doghouse and let him seal the other side. I think Nelson's return is going to help some, but we have to force short throws rather than allowing the opposing QB just to chuck it deep and hope for DPI.

[JakeF]

Oh wait they just gave up 2 1st for a Qb...But not a pass rush....:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:So now you didn't want them to draft a QB in the 1st round?

[JakeF]

I'd like to see both Houston and Ford/Zombo/Kpass on the same side just once in a while. Get Hali out of the doghouse and let him seal the other side. I think Nelson's return is going to help some, but we have to force short throws rather than allowing the opposing QB just to chuck it deep and hope for DPI.
Anything, try anything at all. Don't just sit there and do that same thing over and over again. If you are only going to rush 4, then Houston should be one of those 4.

[carcosa]

You didn't write this?

[Reerun_KC]

What I’ve learned about ol pudding cup.


He doesn’t adjust. Everyone adjusts to him. It’s a brilliant strategy. Let’s see if it pays off.

[Chiefshrink]

People say

Because of these 2 words above that are just opinions that are being proved wrong over time.

Why don't we have the talent?

Veach will reveal this in due time.

[Chiefshrink]

how bad is your secondary that you have to alternate dropping either one of your OLBers in coverage when sitting in a Nickel package

Exactly !!

[Reerun_KC]

Exactly !!



Or pressure the qb and not give him 15 seconds each down to survey the field.


Shows how bad our pass rush is with Houston and ford.

[Reerun_KC]

We have zero pass rush from a broken Houston, non existent Ford and Hali who?

[Aspengc8]

Or pressure the qb and not give him 15 seconds each down to survey the field.


Shows how bad our pass rush is with Houston and ford.

seems like you missed the thread showing how fast teams are getting the ball out when he rushes, and how he is winning in almost all 1v1 matchups.

[MMXcalibur]

Let's have Harrison Butker double as a blocker on field goal attempts too.
Anyone that doesn't want our best pass rusher, y'know, rushing the passer has severe brain damage.

[JakeF]

Almost any QB can beat you when they have lots of time.

[JakeF]

seems like you missed the thread showing how fast teams are getting the ball out when he rushes, and how he is winning in almost all 1v1 matchups.
Part of that could because our secondary is playing 15 yards off the line of scrimmage because they know there isn't any pass rush to protect them. Quick throws are easy when the cornerbacks aren't anywhere near the receiver.

[Easy 6]

how bad is your secondary that you have to alternate dropping either one of your OLBers in coverage when sitting in a Nickel package

Damn good question...

[splatbass]

Oh wait they just gave up 2 1st for a Qb...But not a pass rush....:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:

Actually they only gave up one 1st (next year's). They traded this year's 1st for another (earlier) 1st. We still had a 1st this year.

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

Actually they only gave up one 1st (next year's). They traded this year's 1st for another (earlier) 1st. We still had a 1st this year.

Which means we USED two 1sts for a QB.

[Black Bob]

The outrage is a little ridiculous. He goes in coverage a lot because he is terrific for an olb at it. He is the most versatile olb in the game. If he's not doing that, especially given our shitburger olbs, we'd get carved up on underneath shit.

Horseshit. People make it sound like he's Derrick Brooks. He's not.

[ThaVirus]

I don't care what anyone says, you pay the man to rush the QB.
Nobody is going to sway that opinion.

I watch other defenses get a ton of pressure up front, while I watch ours drop back and let the QB have all day to throw.


He does. He rushes the passer three times more often than he drops back into coverage.. and he’s one of the most productive pass rushers in the league when doing so.

You can’t send both of your OLBs after the QB on every down.