Justin Houston ruled out for Sunday

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without the services of All-Pro outside linebacker Justin Houston once again, who is still dealing with knee pain.

Kansas City is 11-4 and coming off a terrific win over the Denver Broncos. However, not all is well in the Kingdom. The Chiefs announced on Friday afternoon that outside linebacker Justin Houston will be listed as out on the official injury report, meaning he will miss his second consecutive game.

The worry here is that something serious is going on. Houston didn’t make a tackle against the Tennessee Titans before sitting out all week before the game against Denver. Head coach Andy Reid made it sound like a minimal problem early in that week, before ultimately listing Houston as questionable and then making him inactive on Christmas night.

This week, we heard more rhetoric about Houston having swelling in the knee. Reid didn’t give any hint he would play this weekend, making some wonder what the real problem is. It doesn’t seem normal to come back, play great for a month, have swelling, and then not get better. The Chiefs also don’t get the benefit of the doubt with this, considering how tight-lipped they are with injuries.

Hopefully Houston can come back for the playoffs, but at this point, that is certainly in doubt.