Derrick Johnson confident Chiefs will survive Justin Houston’s absence

The impact of Justin Houston was felt on the Chiefs’ first defensive snap last season when his pressure forced an interception by cornerback Marcus Peters. A few snaps later, the Chiefs were in the end zone against the Texans.

There will be no such moment from Houston for this season’s opener against the San Diego Chargers, noon Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium (CBS, Ch. 5). He’s out for at least more six weeks recovering from surgery on his ACL.

But there’s positive news for the Chiefs reflecting in the rear-view mirror.

Houston was first injured in their 11th game last season, against the Bills, and didn’t play the remainder of the regular season.

The Chiefs won all five games and were strong defensively, allowing 13.4 points in that span.

If they could win without Houston then…

“I think we should have enough pieces around our defense to get pressure,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said. “And we put pressure on ourselves knowing we have to pick up the slack.”

That’s what occurred last season. After starting 1-5, the Chiefs had evened their record when they met the Bills. They had momentum but the season could have turned either way after Houston was injured in the first quarter.

But the Chiefs kept winning, and remained strong on defense. Two weeks after losing Houston, his replacement, Dee Ford, turned in the best game of his career with three sacks and a critical pass breakup against the Chargers. Ford will get the start in Houston’s place on Sunday.

The schedule was favorable for success. Over the final five weeks, the Chiefs didn’t meet an opponent that wound up with a winning record. Still it was a strong finish for the Chiefs and a confidence boost that success can occur without one of the game’s great sack masters on the field.

Houston’s 22 sacks in 2014 were the second-most in a NFL season. Even after missing time last season, Houston trails only J.J. Watt for the most sacks in the NFL since 2011. Houston has 56, Watt 70. The Broncos’ Von Miller is third with 49  1/2 .

In the 11 regular-season games with Houston, the Chiefs averaged 2.7 sacks per game. In the five games without him, the average increased to 3.4.

Johnson credited Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton for finding solutions.

“Bob Sutton is one of the great defensive coordinators in the league,” Johnson said. “He knows what we need to do to get pressure knowing that we don’t have one of our stud guys in the game.

“I think we have enough high-character guys, high-level guys on the defense that we can get the job done.”

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Derrick Johnson confident Chiefs will survive Justin Houston’s absence."