Chiefs teammate on Tamba Hali: 'He's still got it'

Last week some bonehead wondered if it was time for the Kansas City Chiefs to be playing Dee Ford over Tamba Hali. To that bonehead's credit, it wasn't because Ford was a better play than Tamba, it was just because the season seems to be lost and the Chiefs could get Ford more playing time if we're assuming Tamba is done next year.

Of course right after I say that, Tamba comes in and has his best game of the season. He finished the day with two sacks, and both of them were huge. The first one came with the Chiefs up just six points in the fourth quarter and with the Steelers facing a third down, Tamba zipped right past the left tackle and into QB Landry Jones for the sack. The second one was just as big late in the fourth quarter when he forced a fumble (known as the TAMBAHAWK) on Jones which was recovered by the Chiefs.

"That was big, man," Allen Bailey said of Tamba's game. "He works hard and hard work pays off. He takes care of his body and it's showing man, he's still got it."

Indeed there are times when you realize he still does have it. Tamba isn't racking up sacks at the pace he has in the past but if you keep an eye on him during the game you can tell he still pressures the quarterback and affects the defense. From that standpoint, he remains a productive player.

"I've got to give my hats off to Tamba Hali," Steelers OT Alejandro Villanueva said. "He's a great athlete. He's a class act. He was a very nice guy throughout the entire game, but he's a very good athlete and we all know that."

To follow up on my note at the top on that bonehead who wanted to swap Tamba with Ford, perhaps the ideal situation is a mix of the two. This game is a good example where Tamba played 43 of the 57 defensive snaps while Ford played the other 14. I could live with that this season.

As an aside, Tamba recorded his 19th multi-sack game as a Chief, which ties Neil Smith.