Chiefs NFL Besties
By Laddie Morse
Tamba Hali’s return is another matter. Right now, through OTAs, Tamba is a coach on the sideline. For the last six years his key stats have looked like this:
Year / Sacks / Tackles
2010 / 14.5 / 52
2011 / 12.0 / 66
2012 / 9.0 / 51
2013 / 11.0 / 45
2014 / 6.0 / 59
2015 / 6.5 / 48
Although Hali has produced less and less sacks as the years have passed, look at his average sacks and tackles the past three years (7.8 and 50.7) compared to his sacks and tackles the previous three years (11.8 and 56.3)… which were presumably his best years. He averaged 4 more sacks and 5.6 more tackles.
While Tamba Hali played 839 snaps in 2015, second among Chiefs linebackers (only Derrick Johnson had more at 1,063). The point here is that to maintain his level of sacks during what is considered his most productive years (2010-2012) he would only need to produce one more sack every 210 snaps.
If I can interject here that the pass rushing combination of Justin Houston and Tamba Hali has become everything I’d hoped it would be. I recall saying, more than once, that I was hoping they would be like two locomotives meeting at the QB.
The only glitch has been that… one of the locomotives usually gets there first… in this case that would be Justin Houston. So many times.. countless it seems… Hali is creating pressure from the other side which makes Houston’s sacks possible. Call it a step slow… but I would rather consider it part of a grand defensive scheme and Tamba Hali has been a critical component of that scheme.
What am I attempting to say here? Simple: Tamba Hali has not faded or deteriorated as much as fans may have thought.
That’s why I am predicting a full recovery for Tamba and that he will continue to help create the pressure needed to make the passing defense effective. Third year LB Dee Ford should get many more of his snaps once Ford is done filling in for Justin Houston which will help Hali stay fresh for when he does hit the field.
Next: Can we predict Justin Houston's return?