Justin Houston out 6-12 months

The Kansas City Chiefs announced that outside linebacker Justin Houston will be out for six to 12 months.

Kansas City is one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl, but it took a major hit on Tuesday morning. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid confirmed that Justin Houston had knee surgery in early February, and it was discovered that the All-Pro’s ACL was not functioning properly. The problem was fixed, but the recovery time is 6-12 months.

Doing the math on this, Houston could be back with the team come August and perhaps not miss a single game. However, he could also be out for the season. The best estimate is right in the middle at nine months, which means the Chiefs likely put him on IR-designated to return and we hopefully see Houston come the middle of November.

Without Houston, it is Dee Ford’s time to shine. The Chiefs missed Houston for the final six regular-season games of 2015 and won all of them. Kansas City will be relying on Ford, who improved last season but still has a ways to go before he becomes anything close to Houston.

Kansas City has to survive this injury and hope that Houston is not out for the year.