The Kansas City Chiefs finally got Justin Houston back onto the

KANSAS CITY Joe Montana Jersey , Mo. (AP) — field Sunday against Arizona, and the four-time Pro Bowl linebacker made one of the plays of the game when he picked off Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen on a second-half screen pass.The Chiefs also got safety Daniel Sorensen back from injured reserve, where he had resided since breaking his leg in training camp, and he five tackles while providing a hard-hitting presence.Perhaps it’s no surprise the Chiefs defense played the best it has all season.With two of their anticipated starters back on the field, the Chiefs held the Cardinals to 260 yards in a 26-14 victory. They sacked Rosen five times, intercepted him twice and even managed to keep David Johnson under 100 yards rushing — just barely.“I feel like the first couple weeks we were putting too much into it, trying too hard,” linebacker Reggie Ragland said. “We’re having fun with it. Whatever happens, happens. It’s football. We’ve been playing this game for too long for us not to have fun with it. It’s a child’s game and we’re grown men playing it, so have fun with it. Don’t worry about all that other stuff.”The Chiefs (9-1) sure looked as if they were having a ball Sunday.Dee Ford had his ninth sack of the season, not to mention three tackles for a loss and four hits on Rosen. Allen Bailey had his fifth sack while Chris Jones had two more to give him a career-high seven for the season, including at least one sack in six consecutive games.All told, Rosen was hit 13 times and fumbled once while throwing for just 208 yards and a score.“The one thing we’re doing right now is we are minimizing big plays,” defensive tackle Jarvis Jenkins said. “That is one thing we all play on is minimizing big plays Len Dawson Jersey , then getting them one-dimensional so we can rush the passer. I think we did that this game.”The only game in which the defense played nearly as well was Cincinnati, when the Chiefs allowed 239 yards in a 45-10 rout. But it’s often easier to play stingy defense when the game has gotten out of hand, and on Sunday the Chiefs needed to show up in a game that Arizona managed to keep relatively close.“That’s happened a couple of times now, things have stalled out (on offense) then they step up and make plays,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “That’s a great thing. We need that as a football team. We need that. It’s important.”Especially given who is up next: The Chiefs are headed to Mexico City to face the high-flying Los Angeles Rams on Monday night in a matchup of two of the NFL’s most dynamic offenses.The Rams are second in yards-per-game and the Chiefs are third, and those rankings are flipped when it comes to scoring with Kansas City second and Los Angeles third.In other words, it’s a good time for the Chiefs’ maligned defense to start showing up.They can still get a whole lot better, too. Middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens was out Sunday with bruised ribs, and backup linebacker Frank Zombo missed the game with a hamstring injury, giving undrafted rookie Ben Niemann a chance to start his first NFL game.“I was still on four phases of special teams,” Niemann said, “so I got a little tired out there. But it was good. You want to play. You want to play as many snaps as possible.”Someone else who wants to play? Eric Berry, the Chiefs’ star safety, who still hasn’t played since tearing his Achilles’ tendon in the season opener last year. Berry practiced throughout the summer and into training camp Mitch Morse Jersey , but a heel injury has kept him off the field for months.It would be another boon for the Chiefs defense if he can return in any effective capacity.“Sooner or later, it has to be the defense (stepping up),” Jenkins said. “That’s part of being a team. You can’t be one-dimensional. I think the feeling we have now is it’s a good team. It wasn’t pretty (Sunday) but we got it done. That’s what we have to do.”Notes: Reid said Monday he’s not concerned about the field conditions at Azteca Stadium, where the combination of concerts and soccer matches have wrecked the turf. “I’ve seen it,” Reid said, “but I think the NFL is on top of it. They do a great job with all that stuff.” … Reid said he doesn’t expect Patrick Mahomes to miss practice after his girlfriend’s stepfather died suddenly on Sunday. The Chiefs are off on Tuesday and Wednesday. “He’s here this morning and he’s got things set there, organized and settled down,” Reid said, “so he can do what he’s got to do here.” Kareem Hunt spent the first few weeks of the season doing what he called "dirty work," which mostly amounted to carrying the ball late in games as the Kansas City Chiefs tried to run out the clock.The Chiefs didn't really need the NFL's reigning rushing champ the way Patrick Mahomes and the rest of the offense was sizzling. So there he was, one of the breakout stars of last season, getting brutally tough yards when the entire opposing defense was stacking the box.He never complained. Never seemed down.In fact, the second-year pro insisted all along that he would have his opportunities, once the rest of the league decided they'd better pay attention to the Chiefs' passing game.And lo and behold Chris Jones Jersey , that's exactly what has happened the past few weeks, when the Chiefs have been able to pry open massive holes for him in the running game and Mahomes has been able to find him in the passing game."We don't count touches," Chiefs offensive lineman Cam Erving said. "We have a lot of weapons and when a team schemes for one thing, we have another one to pop it back with. Kareem has just done a great job of being patient and waiting for those moments to come."He grabs those moments," Erving added, "and he finishes."He certainly lets the woebegone defender that gets in his way know, too. Rarely does the bruising, Walter Payton-esque running back go down on first contact. Often not second or third.Take his most impressive run last week against Cincinnati, when he appeared to be bottled up near the sideline. Hunt made a nifty spin move to shake one defender, darted to his left to avoid a few more and then hurdled 鈥?without getting any head of steam 鈥?yet another before finally going down.It was the biggest highlight on a night Hunt scored three touchdowns."I probably made the wrong read," Mahomes said of the run-pass option, "and then I handed it to him. It should've been a tackle for a loss and then he broke a tackle and jumped over a dude. This is a very talented (Bengals) defense who have a lot of guys who are built to stop the run, and it just speaks to the strength and the power he has when he runs the football."Those raw physical skills have been on display the past four weeks, beginning with a win in Denver when Hunt ran for 121 yards and a touchdown and caught three more passes for 54 yards.He followed up with a touchdown against Jacksonville Tanoh Kpassagnon Jersey , had 185 yards from scrimmage and another score against New England, and had 86 yards rushing and three touchdowns total against Cincinnati."(Hunt) makes it all go because you can't simply ignore the guy," said Broncos coach Vance Joseph, whose team gets another shot Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. "Our first game, he made most of the big plays, honestly. He's a guy that runs downhill and he catches the ball in the pass game."In other words, he's the perfect running back for a system that is predicated on misdirection."He did well last year, too," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said, "but he's playing as well as any running back in the National Football League. He's not only running the ball like crazy, he's also catching the football. I actually took him out before he broke the 100-yard mark last week."He's punishing people right now," Reid added with a grin, "and it's something to watch."Yet just like Hunt took his relative lack of production the first few weeks in stride, he's done just the same with his sudden surge of success. He heaped praise on his offense line Armani Watts Jersey , showered Mahomes and the rest of the offense with accolades and complemented his coaches on getting him the ball."I'm just a guy who is going to come in and try my best to make every effort possible to score a touchdown," he said. "It's not even about me. It's about the team winning. Whatever I can do to help the team win, I'm a team guy. I'm down to do whatever."Hunt did finally let his bravado show a little when Chiefs tight end Demetrius Harris, who was dressing nearby, described him as "a bull." Hunt thought for a moment and decided that was a pretty good label, then he realized that bulls don't really carry much workload."I like to be an ox, too," he said.Notes: Free safety Daniel Sorensen (broken leg) returned to practice Wednesday. He'd been on the IR since early in training camp and is eligible to play in games beginning Week 8. ... Strong safety Eric Berry (heel), Linebacker Justin Houston (hamstring) and center Mitch Morse (concussion) did not practice. ... Linebacker Terrance Smith tore his ACL on a kick return against Cincinnati, Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said. He went on IR earlier this week.