The 6-foot-3, 260-pounder is coming off a 22-sack season that left him a half sack shy of Michael Strahan’s NFL record. But the performance resulted in Houston becoming the highest-paid linebacker in NFL history when he inked a six-year, $101 million contract in the offseason.
A three-time Pro Bowler in his four seasons in the league, Houston has three sacks through three games this year and will be going against a guy in Smith who is coming off a tough afternoon against Baltimore’s Elvis Dumervil.
“He’s one of the best there is,” Smith said of Houston. “He doesn’t really compare with anyone else. He has a rare mix of size and speed.”
Smith speaks from experience, not just film study.
In a 2012 game in Kansas City, Smith limited Houston to two tackles and no sacks while paving the way for a 101-yard rushing game by Bengals running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis.
But that was a bad Chiefs team that fell behind early and didn’t have a lot of chances to really go after Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. But they’ll be coming fast and hard today — both Houston and Tamba Hali on the other side — and how Smith holds up could be a big factor in whether the Bengals move to 4-0 or suffer their first loss of the year.
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