Houston directly impacted the Chiefs game. I did the film study and posted it. The “clock” in Mahomes head completely changed when Houston was the pass rusher. Which also speaks to how prepared Andy Reid and Mahomes are. They gameplanned for Houston. When he wasn’t on the field, Mahomes did his dance around thing to make a play like he normally does. When Houston was in the game and rushed, they didn’t play with fire. Mahomes got rid of the football, even if it was put in harms way. A lasting image of that game will always be the Brian Branch pick 6. We need to fully appreciate that Houston caused that based on how Reid and Mahomes calculated him as a pass rusher.
I’d like to see the time before a pass when Houston was on the field vs when he wasn’t in that game.
Sorry but call me skeptical that the best player in the league would even know who Houston was let alone change their whole game plan when he was on the field. I’m not saying you are wrong, it’s just hard for me to believe.
Just like I mentioned about Amik, being unconventional is one of the most underrated advantages in sports. Not that Houston doesn’t have a ton else going for him as a pass rusher. But the novelty of his approach is an amplifier of those other attributes IMO.
And as a fan he’s just so damn fun to watch rush the passer.
Houston is fast and almost always rushes extremely low and gives big OT’s problems.
It gives QB’s the “willies” because he’s hard to see being so low and his sacks are at their knees and ankles.
Here is a good example of that against the Chiefs. Houston rushes and dips around the edge. He has been “pushed down” several times in this game. So instead of allowing himself to get pushed down to the ground again, he slides on the ground on his own. The tackle has no preparation for this strategy. Houston combines a slide and crawl technique to snag Mahomes by the ankle. At this point Houston is basically an alligator getting ready to death roll. Mahomes has enough special traits to be able to unload an incomplete pass instead of taking the sack.
That talk didnt come form our team. The coaches always talked positively about the work he was putting in changing positions. I watched every single coach interview. I never heard a single word that wasnt positive. They wanted him to be more than a DPR. They wanted him to have a chance to stay on the field by learning more skills.
The outside discussion was all nonsense like is usually is. Dont believe it is fact. Because it isnt. The team never once said they thought about cutting him.