Quote:
Originally Posted by SNR
We seem to keep coming back to Matt Stafford, and that's not it. Surely you recognize that there's a happy medium of ideal QB play between "**** IT I'M GONNA THROW SO HARD AAAARRRGGGH" and "Don't hurt me I'm just a brokedick here I'll go down so you can touch me and get the sack."
Even you, Saccopoo, sworn to defend and electronically fellate any and all players from Utah, have to recognize that Alex Smith tends to lean more towards the latter on this spectrum. It would be nice if he would snap out of that a bit, and if he is incapable of doing so, we need to find a guy who will.
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I don't know...
He's definitely not a Blaine Gabbert/Matt Cassel full-fetal position type of guy. He's very smart with the ball and will take a sack versus hang it up for the defense to go get, but he's also savvy enough and athletic enough that he will use his feet for positive yardage when line protection breaks down. And I've seen enough of him that he's shown the ability to take a hit to deliver the ball.
Personally, I think he's done a pretty decent job with moving the offense forward on the field considering the duress he's been under the first three games while the line continues to gel. Imagine guys like Huard or Cassel back there these first three games. Hell, we've seen that, and Smith is nowhere close to that.
And Reid has built this team with the short to mid mentality. Fullbacks, tight ends, possession routes, etc. This is an offense that is designed to be calculating, efficient and diverse in that area of the field. It's why he coveted Smith - because that's the type of QB he is and what he functions best in.
I think you are conceptualizing that it's Smith alone that is holding the offense back (if that's your thought process, even though we are putting up the yardage and winning the games despite the lack of functional tight ends, a legitimate possession receiver and a virtual sieve for an offensive line outside of Hudson and Schwartz), and I don't think that's the case at all. Quite the opposite in fact. However, it goes deeper than simply looking at a box score and noting the passing yards.
You and some others are advocating "finding a guy who won't hold the offense back," but yet the Chiefs are 3-0.
My point with Stafford is that the Lions with Stafford are pushing the ball down the field, racking up huge numbers in the process, and they still suck. They barely beat a historically bad defensive team in the Redskins today, and Stafford has the best receiver in the game to throw to as well as a first round tight end.
While it may fly in the face of what some people think an offense should be, especially in the post 2004 era of the NFL, Alex Smith wins ball games playing the way he does. 22-5-1 in his starts over the past three seasons. That's better than Manning and Brees and whoever else you want to compare him with. Only Tom Brady equals that mark over the same period.
And now he's coupled with Reid, who, when not saddled with occupational distractions that go beyond purely coaching the team and family problems, is one of the better offensive minded coaches and successful coaches over the past decade, and you and others want to get rid of Smith because you think he's holding the offense back? After Reid said that Smith is the guy he wanted for years? Jim Harbaugh apparently thought the same way you do, and what are the results of that?
Eh...I'm pretty sick of losing.
I'll take Smith, Reid and the wins, thank you very much.