DE George Karlaftis,aka 'Furious George,' is on a tear for Chiefs

"Furious George" is getting to the quarterback, helping power a Chiefs pass rush that's among the best in the league. 

Rookie defensive end George Karlaftis -- nicknamed "Furious George -- has a sack in three straight games heading into Sunday's game against Houston.

Chiefs defensive line coach Joe Cullen noted Thursday that Kansas City's top defensive linemen, Chris Jones and Frank Clark, were situational guys as rookies. By comparison,  Karlaftis --a first-round pick -- has started all 13 games.

"We've thrown a lot at George," he said. (h/t USA Today) "He's handled it well. I just think he's going to continue to get better and especially this last stretch."

Kansas City went into training camp thin at defensive end. The Chiefs added veteran Carlos Dunlap to add their pass rush. That signing and the drafting of Karlaftis in the first round has aided the rush.

Karlaftis has been a force lately. As Cullen noted in his news conference, on the first play of last week's game against the Denver Broncos, he had Russell Wilson around the waist to force an incomplete pass. 

The previous week, he took down Joe Burrow to force a third-and-long late in the fourth quarter. The  Bengals, though, completed the first down on the next play to ice the ball game. 

Against the Los Angeles Rams on Dec. 4, Karlaftis sacked Bryce Perkins on first down to keep the Rams out of field-goal range.

When the Chiefs selected Karlaftis in the first round out of Purdue, they knew they were getting a guy who could get into the backfield. They were hopeful that would transition into some much-needed quarterback takedowns this season.

Now "Furious George" is delivering.