Quote:
Originally Posted by Cochise
You guys who disliked the acquisition of Smith from the start - if he won a playoff game this year, would you be fine with going forward with him as a "franchise QB"?
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Depends on the playoff game and what follows.
Questions:
1) Who did they beat?
2) How did they beat them?
3) What did the offense do?
4) What did Alex Smith do within the offense (i.e. was it efficient/consistently moving the ball against a good playoff defense? Did the offense perform better/worse against that defense than expected?)
5) What happened in the next game (i.e. did the Chiefs compete against an elite team and lose, or did the Chiefs get outclassed by an elite team? Did the offense hold up its end of the bargain?)
A Chiefs playoff win could confirm skeptics fears about Alex Smith. A Chiefs playoff loss could banish skeptics fears about Alex Smith. Lot of factors there, IMO.
Alex Smith's ability to win a lot of games in the regular season when paired with a great D and strong running game has never been seriously questioned (his two years in San Francisco proved that, at least). It's his ability to win games against elite teams that can put up points on his defense that has been called into question.
Chiefs would need to make a pretty big playoff run (at least to AFC Championship, and doing it on the back of Alex Smith) for me to be OK with committing to a long-term extension for Smith at a franchise QB price tag.
Outside of that, the only extension/commitment to Smith should be along the lines discussed in the Alex Smith extension thread. Something of reasonable cost and that can be walked away from in a few years without destroying the cap. (And even then, I'd say wait until after the draft and FA period to work that out).