KC Chiefs set to face off against old friends like Justin Houston, Sammy Watkins

The K.C. Chiefs will take on the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night, and that means facing off with an old friend: pass rusher Justin Houston.

The former Chiefs linebacker signed with the Ravens this offseason after spending the previous two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and will now line up against his former team.

Sunday will be the second time Houston has faced off against the team that drafted him, and if the first time was anything to go by, he is certainly likely to make an impact.

Houston played against K.C. in Week 5 in 2019 in his first year in Indianapolis, recording one sack and two tackles for loss—including a crucial stop on 4th-&-1 in the fourth quarter—as the Colts beat the Chiefs 19-13.

Houston spent eight years with the Chiefs and was a favorite in Chiefs Kingdom. He recorded 377 tackles and his 78.5 sacks are the fourth-most sacks in franchise history. He also holds the franchise record for most sacks in a season, recording 22 in 2014—half a sack shy of the official NFL record.

He was released at the end of the 2018 season as part of a salary cap dump after K.C. failed to find a trade for him. He had nine sacks, 37 tackles, eight tackles for loss and five forced fumbles in his last season at Arrowhead.

Since leaving the Chiefs, the 32-year-old has continued to show he can still play. His 11 sacks in 2018 and eight sacks in 2020 are more than any Chiefs player had in either year, and his combined total of 19 is five more than his more expensive replacement, defensive end Frank Clark, had in the same period.

Other familiar faces

Houston isn’t the only familiar face K.C. will come up against on Sunday night. Super Bowl hero Sammy Watkins, who spent three seasons with the Chiefs, also joined Baltimore during the offseason.

Watkins is revered among Chiefs Kingdom for his role during the playoffs in 2020. Watkins caught the game-clinching 60-yard touchdown in the AFC championship game against the Tennessee Titans, and two weeks later his crucial 48-yard catch in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl that set up the go-ahead score.

However, Watkins struggled in his last season with the Chiefs, recording career lows in yards (421), touchdowns (two) and yards per game (42.1), with the team electing not to resign him during the offseason.

Other ex-Chiefs Marcus Peters and Le’Veon Bell are also with the Ravens, although it looks like neither will take part in the action. Peters will miss the game after suffering a season-ending ACL injury, part of a string of serious injures Baltimore has suffered, while Bell is not currently on the active roster.

On the flip side, Sunday night will be the first time ex-Raven Orlando Brown Jr goes up against his old team after being traded to Kansas City.