Importance of Justin Houston, Manning rumors and DJ’s future

On this episode of Roughing the Kicker, Joshua Brisco, Sam Chaverin and Tyler Bowdish break down reports of the Denver Broncos trying to trade Peyton Manning, the future of Derrick Johnson, the importance of Justin Houston and what the Chiefs need to do to win the AFC West.

The mere idea that the Broncos attempted to skip the last year or two of the Peyton Manning era to move on to the Brock Osweiler one is beyond laughable. But if John Elway and Gary Kubiak were seriously looking to push Manning out, well, more power to them. Manning is clearly on the downside to his career, but I would rather go down swinging with Manning behind center and making the calls than watch Gary Kubiak try to impose a system on Brock Osweiler to try to lead your team to the playoffs.

Justin Houston’s impact on the Chiefs defense is obviously enormous, but what makes Justin Houston so good? Because he’s destroying the competition in so many ways.

Derrick Johnson has been a keystone on this team for years, and his disappearance last season sent the Chiefs run defense into a tailspin. But after drafting two inside linebackers, how long will DJ stay a Chief? His current contract ends after this season.

Here on Arrowhead Addict, Stacy D. Smith (Reach) broke down a few division-specific things the Chiefs will have to do win the AFC West. In addition to those, I added one more important piece: the play of the offensive line. Though Reach’s story is based around the division, consistent offensive line play will be extra-tested by the pass rushers that the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders will be bringing to divisional clashes in 2015.

Have ideas or questions for next week’s episode? Tweet @jbbrisco or comment here on AA and tell me what you want to talk about. Subscribe to RTK on iTunes and never miss an episode.

Roughing the Kicker is a podcast on Arrowhead Addict Radio. RTK is about the Kansas City Chiefs and the NFL through the eyes of Chiefs fans. Music by Baby Spaceman.