One does not need to have been an All-Pro defensive player in order to know that Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones is capable of taking over games, but Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans’s history as a star linebacker likely makes it even easier to identify Jones as a player to stop this weekend.
The Texans have had a hard time protecting quarterback C.J. Stroud this season and the interior of their line has been a particular issue. Both of those things are a concern when it comes to making sure that Jones does not wreck Houston’s offensive plans and Ryans said on Tuesday that his message to the offense is to “make sure you know” where the guy wearing No. 95 is on every single snap.
“You have to have awareness where 95 is,” Ryans said in a press conference. “No one can fall asleep on 95. You have to make sure you are aware. You have to go challenge him and you have to go compete. That is what this game is about and that is what I am most excited about, they have really good players, we have good players. Let’s put the ball down, compete and see what happens.”
The Chiefs will move Jones all over their defensive front over the course of Saturday’s game, so the Texans will have to be sharp when it comes to identifying where the threat is going to come from on each snap. Once they do, they’ll have to nullify it and that’s proven easier said than done throughout Jones’s time in Kansas City.
