There is now a second report indicating that Justin Houston could be out for the rest of the regular season. Houston suffered his hyperextended knee in Week 12 against the Bills and it was reported earlier this week by NFL Network's Rand Getlin that there was "some fear" Houston could miss the rest of the regular season. ESPN's Adam Schefter now has this on Sunday morning:
Chiefs' LB Justin Houston not expected to play again in regular season, but is hoping to make it back in time for postseason, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 20, 2015
So let's go ahead and plan on Houston being out for the rest of the regular season. The Chiefs have three more games left in Baltimore and then hosting the Browns and Raiders. IF the Chiefs can continue to win and make the playoffs then this injury may not hurt them all that much. However, if the Chiefs lose and face a must-win game at some point in the final three games then I wonder how that will affect how Houston's injury is handled. The Chiefs have called it a hyperextended knee and even had that confirmed by Dr. James Andrews.
This means that the Chiefs need a big performance from Dee Ford down the stretch. His first game against Oakland wasn't too impressive although he was involved in one of the game's biggest plays when he helped force an interception. His second game against the Chargers last week was much better as Ford filled up the stat sheet with three sacks. The Chiefs need to get the Ford from the Chargers game. Their defense is reliant on pressure so they can't be laying up any goose eggs in the pass rush department.