Pass rusher Justin Houston, who in 2014 led the league with 22 sacks, suffered a knee injury last season, one he tried to play through in the playoffs. Turns out it was more significant than was believed at the time, and now his 2016 season is in jeopardy.
Houston had surgery to repair his ACL last month, and he's being given a recovery time of 6-12 months. That puts the start of the season as a long shot at the most optimistic, and Andy Reid admits "We're hoping he'll be able to play this season."
Houston has missed five games in two of his last three seasons, yet still has recorded 40.5 sacks in those 38 games. Kansas City, meanwhile, has had one of the league's two best pass rushes in that span. It's the only team, in fact, that had at least 45 sacks in each of the last three years. Any time he misses in 2016 -- and it sounds like it will be a lot -- is a major blow.
As a team, Kansas City has 140 sacks over the last three years. The only team with more than that is Carolina. Big loss for Kansas City's fantasy defense.
| TEAM SACKS, 2013-2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | '13 | '14 | '15 | Total |
| Carolina | 60 | 40 | 44 | 144 |
| Kansas City | 47 | 46 | 47 | 140 |
| New England | 48 | 40 | 49 | 137 |
| Denver | 41 | 41 | 52 | 134 |
| St. Louis | 53 | 40 | 41 | 134 |
| Buffalo | 57 | 54 | 21 | 132 |
| Green Bay | 44 | 41 | 43 | 128 |
| Baltimore | 40 | 49 | 37 | 126 |
| Minnesota | 41 | 41 | 43 | 125 |
| NY Jets | 41 | 45 | 39 | 125 |
| Philadelphia | 37 | 49 | 37 | 123 |
| Arizona | 47 | 35 | 36 | 118 |
| Indianapolis | 42 | 41 | 35 | 118 |
| Seattle | 44 | 37 | 37 | 118 |
| Detroit | 33 | 42 | 42 | 117 |
| Houston | 32 | 38 | 45 | 115 |
| Pittsburgh | 34 | 33 | 48 | 115 |
| New Orleans | 49 | 34 | 31 | 114 |
| Tennessee | 36 | 39 | 39 | 114 |
| Jacksonville | 31 | 45 | 36 | 112 |
| Miami | 42 | 39 | 31 | 112 |
| Washington | 36 | 37 | 38 | 111 |
| Tampa Bay | 35 | 36 | 38 | 109 |
| Chicago | 31 | 39 | 35 | 105 |
| Cincinnati | 43 | 20 | 42 | 105 |
| NY Giants | 34 | 47 | 23 | 104 |
| San Francisco | 38 | 36 | 28 | 102 |
| Cleveland | 40 | 31 | 29 | 100 |
| Oakland | 38 | 22 | 38 | 98 |
| Dallas | 34 | 28 | 31 | 93 |
| San Diego | 35 | 26 | 32 | 93 |
| Atlanta | 32 | 22 | 19 | 73 |
--Andy Richardson

