Mellinger: Alex Smith is out of excuses, and he needs to deliver his best season

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Rivermike87

So 11+ wins and he gets to stay? Sounds kind of unfair don't you think? However I could definitely see them win that many games. Considering what we've seen from the past from this team, they are only getting better and better. Being a 9-7 team last year wth what they had to go through only strengthens my optimism for this year. 11-5 sounds bout right to me. Don't think I have ever seen the Chiefs have a complete team like this

My position on Alex Smith has always been clear - he makes your team exactly as good as it is.

He's not Aaron Rodgers, who makes it better. He's not Matt Cassel, who makes it worse.

If you took the Chiefs and every other team in the league, subtracted the quarterbacks and were asked to rank order them, is there any argument at all that the Chiefs are at least a top 5 team by that metric? I don't think so - the talent on this team is immense.

You're right, I could be being unfair, but my general perception of the NFL 'bell curve' is that every year there 4-5 teams that win 12+ games and another 2-3 that win 11.

So if I'm right and Alex Smith truly is a guy who makes your team exactly as good as it is and I believe that the Chiefs are a top 5 team quarterback excluded, then 11 wins should be a fair expectation.

By season's end it's possible he could have played well and we end up at 10 wins; I'd still deal with that. But anything less has to be seen as an unqualified failure for Alex Smith and a definite sign that he's not a quarterback that can take this team anywhere meaningful.