Dee Ford had a great play in Sunday’s loss to the Houston Texans. The Chiefs defense was facing a third down and hoping to stop the Texans from nearing field goal range. Brock Osweiler pitched it to the running back who met Dee Ford in open space. And how about this: Dee Ford tackled him. He did a great job playing in space and making the stop. Texans punt.
Solid play by Dee Ford here pic.twitter.com/Z9hVXmjXup
— Gary McKenzie (@Super_G_Chiefs) September 21, 2016
Andy Reid noticed. He says on the Chiefs Kingdom radio show that they “got a good look at Dee Ford. Dee Ford played a good game.”
Dee Ford has improved on some of the nuances of his game as you can see with this tackle. Two years ago he was literally running backwards in this situation. However, he’s still not getting enough pressure on the quarterback. There’s a lot that goes into being an outside linebacker but if you’re not rushing the passer consistently then the rest doesn’t really matter.
“I thought our linebackers did better this week than they did the previous week,” Reid said. “I think that whole front seven raised their game up a little bit and played good football. I think they'll continue to build on that. Got a couple of young guys in certain positions there—that front in particular the linebacker spot.”