INDIANAPOLIS -- Dee Ford had to wait until Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts was over to say so. But he felt a performance like the one he and his fellow pass-rushers had in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 30-14 victory building during the week.
“So it was imperative that we kept rushing.’’
The Chiefs did keep rushing and displayed a potent pass rush for the first time this season. They had just eight sacks in their first six games.
Perhaps it’s premature to believe that the pass rush is back for good. Luck has been sacked plenty this season. He’s gone down a league-high 31 times.
But the Chiefs have reason to believe that for their rush, the best is yet to come. Ford has seven sacks, putting him in position to challenge for the league title. Buffalo’s Lorenzo Alexander leads with nine, but his team has played one more game than the Chiefs.
Justin Houston, their sack leader in each of the past four seasons, could play as soon as next week. He's been out since having surgery on his balky ACL in February.
His return should make Ford an even more potent threat.
“He’s not done yet,’’ said linebacker Tamba Hali, one of three other Chiefs players to get at least a half-sack of Luck. “We’re going to try to get him as many as he can possibly get because he’s very, very talented.
“When you have that ability, you’re going to be in the right places. You’ve just got to make plays and he’s doing it.’’KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Tough break for rookie cornerback D.J. White, who was rebounding well from his horrible game early this month against Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
White, who had been playing a lot as the third cornerback, has a broken hand and will be out for Sunday’s game against the Colts in Indianapolis and perhaps beyond.
It’s also a tough break for the Chiefs, who aren’t deep at cornerback and face quarterback Andrew Luck on Sunday. Starting cornerback Phillip Gaines returned to practice on Wednesday after missing most or all of the last three games because of a sore knee and he could play against the Colts.
If Gaines can’t play on Sunday, the Chiefs will have to dig deep into their reserves and go with either Kenneth Acker or Terrance Mitchell as their third cornerback. Neither has played much.
Regardless of who’s in the lineup on Sunday as the second or third cornerback, he’s probably going to see more than his share of action. Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints avoided throwing much against No. 1 cornerback Marcus Peters last Sunday and that could be the start of a trend. Peters leads the NFL with five interceptions.
“That’s a respect thing for Marcus," coach Andy Reid said. “The other guys have to know they’re going to get some action. That’s OK. We’ve got good players there."
White was getting plenty of passes thrown his way but was responding better since the Pittsburgh game.
“He has to understand that it’s not because he’s a young guy," Reid said. “It’s because the guy on the opposite side has a gazillion interceptions. Teams are probably leaning away from (Peters), which makes them throw towards D.J.’s side."
Peters didn’t get an interception off Brees but he did recover a fumble. The Chiefs did get an interception, though -- a pick-6 by Daniel Sorensen.
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