Andy Reid: I still think Chiefs can win with Alex Smith

[oaklandhater]

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap300...ith-alex-smith

By Marc Sessler
Around the NFL Writer

Sunday's disaster at Arrowhead Stadium hasn't shaken Kansas City's confidence in Alex Smith.

"Do I still think we can win with Alex? Yeah, we were right there," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of his starting quarterback on Monday, per Terez Paylor of The Kansas City Star.


Smith stumbled badly in Sunday's 18-16 playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, throwing for just 172 yards, with much of that coming during a fourth-quarter surge that fell short.

After leading an opening scoring drive, Smith's next six possessions resulted in a punt, pick, punt, fumble and two more punts before the Chiefs finally chiseled out a field goal at the end of the third quarter.

To be fair, Smith saw no help from the cast of weapons who helped Kansas City rally down the stretch.

As we noted Sunday, tight end Travis Kelce -- who topped 100-plus receiving yards in five of his previous seven games -- accounted for just 34 yards over the first 50 minutes against Pittsburgh. His most memorable play was a disastrous, unhinged personal-foul that drew the ire of his own teammates.

Game-breaking rookie Tyreek Hill, meanwhile, managed just 45 total yards, while starting wideout Jeremy Maclin finished second among all pass-catchers with a meager 28 yards through the air.

The finger-pointing goes beyond Smith, who rolled into the game with the league's fourth-highest playoff passer rating among active quarterbacks. Still, the Chiefs starter -- like 90 percent of the league -- simply can't duplicate the play of the NFL's premier passers.


Smith is ideal for a ball-control offense that wins games by eliminating mistakes, but he's not the guy who can reliably scorch defenses in January with a litany of jaw-dropping throws all over the field. Sunday's loss was a total team letdown, but it's fair to ask if -- and how -- Smith's ceiling will suddenly rise next season.

From where we stand, Kansas City needs everyone on offense playing at a near-perfect level for Smith to make it to a Super Bowl with the Chiefs. When that doesn't happen -- as it didn't on Sunday -- a team like Pittsburgh can sail by without scoring a touchdown.

It's not that Smith should be replaced -- plenty of teams would snatch him up -- but he certainly deserves competition. It would make sense for Reid to examine free agency and the draft for a quarterback or two who can furnish this attack with a different look.

Chiefs fans don't want to hear it -- especially not today -- but this coaching staff would be wise to take a long look at this roster before next September. Why not explore all possibilities?

[RunKC]

Interesting question...how many teams got worse value from their QB this year considering $$ and production.

Obviously Osweiller. Can you think of many others?

[KC_Lee]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Interesting question...how many teams got worse value from their QB this year considering $$ and production.

Obviously Osweiller. Can you think of many others?

Jet's and Fitzpatrick?
Bills and Taylor?

[The Franchise]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Interesting question...how many teams got worse value from their QB this year considering $$ and production.

Obviously Osweiller. Can you think of many others?

Flacco
Palmer
Cutler
Kaepernick
Dalton

[Nightfyre]

Smith leaves too many big plays on the field. He doesn't do a good job of reading the defense pre snap and doesn't actually work progressions. The levels scheme Andy Reid runs is specifically designed for easy rapid progressions,and he can't even do that.

[SuperBowl4]

Alex Smith looked lost out there and scared. Hell, he could have used a timeout after every play. If he could have he would have.

[FishingRod]

You can make up for mediocre QB play with a great team. A great QB can make an mediocre team a contender

[Lzen]

Originally Posted by TigerUppercut

http://www.espn.com/nfl/qbr

How can you argue with QBR when it has Matt Ryan, Tom Brady, Prescott, Rodgers, Brees as the top 5 QB's of 2016?

What measurement do you propose measuring a QB's efficiency by?

Because his sack rate is down 40%, completion percentage up 2%, Total TD's over 14.5 games (20) was near identical to the 16 games of 2015 (22).

Get your head out of your ass.

And Alex Smith is down there at #11. While that's okay, it's NOT GOOD ENOUGH! And that's why we should move on from Alex Smith. $17 million is way to much money to be paying the #11 ranked QB in the NFL.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Andy Reid is a hell of a football coach. Marty Schottenheimer was a hell of a football coach. Bottom line is come playoff time if you don't have an elite QB, you aren't doing jack shit.

This

Marty & Andy can get you there but you need a Brady or Rodgers to get you to the ultimate pot of gold.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by Lzen

And Alex Smith is down there at #11. While that's okay, it's NOT GOOD ENOUGH! And that's why we should move on from Alex Smith. $17 million is way to much money to be paying the #11 ranked QB in the NFL.

"That's the market."

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by TigerUppercut

If people REALLY doubt Smith consider this...his pass yards are up from last year. His completion percentage is up from last year. Sack rate went down 40%. And this is considering his top wide receiver was a rookie and his best receiver (Maclin) was way off his game compared to 2015 (6 less TDs this year). But most significant was the lack of a run game this season, so for him to achieve all of the above despite an obvious step back in what was the strength of the offense in 2015 is a positive indication that his skills as a passer continues to improve. Sure the red zone % was awful, but it improved dramatically over the last third of the season.

1) Bring the run game back to being respectable
2) Continue to build chemistry with Tyreek in the offseason
3) Get Maclin back to 2015 form
4) Receivers need to improve catching ability (2nd worst in dropped passes this season)

This Offense will be one of the most efficient ones in 2017 and it's not as if there has to be radical changes. All the pieces are there.

Prediction: 28 TD's/ 10 INTs , 68% completion rate, 3800-4000 yards

No thanks, cut him....

* He commands no respect from the league beyond claims of being "a swell guy who doesn't cause problems for the league."
* He's not the kind of on-field who can command near-perfection because he can't back it up himself.
* A lot of those dropped passes weren't "on the money." Not that they all will ever be, not even Brady, Rodgers, and Manning can do that, but too many were just more difficult to catch than the situation deemed necessary.
* I don't think the players respect him, certainly not the WRs and RBs. His style of play (even if you blam Andy for calling the plays) get them killed.
* He's got worse downfield vision than Stevie Wonder.
* He's not worth the added cap space that not cutting him would cost us.
* And, not to sound like I support him or anything, he's just average enough to keep us out of a draft spot high enough to get Drew Lock (or some other promising QB) in the draft.

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

Originally Posted by Lzen

And Alex Smith is down there at #11. While that's okay, it's NOT GOOD ENOUGH! And that's why we should move on from Alex Smith. $17 million is way to much money to be paying the #11 ranked QB in the NFL.

You have zero clue about the going rate for quarterbacks. Plus, he is getting back paid for the 8 mil a year he got for his first two seasons. His average salary is in fact 14 mil a year over 5 years. That's a steal for a veteran QB with his record

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

All this talk about elite QB play that wins playoff Games when Ben played a horrible game on Sunday...

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by GloryDayz

No thanks, cut him....

* He commands no respect from the league beyond claims of being "a swell guy who doesn't cause problems for the league."
* He's not the kind of on-field who can command near-perfection because he can't back it up himself.
* A lot of those dropped passes weren't "on the money." Not that they all will ever be, not even Brady, Rodgers, and Manning can do that, but too many were just more difficult to catch than the situation deemed necessary.
* I don't think the players respect him, certainly not the WRs and RBs. His style of play (even if you blam Andy for calling the plays) get them killed.
* He's got worse downfield vision than Stevie Wonder.
* He's not worth the added cap space that not cutting him would cost us.
* And, not to sound like I support him or anything, he's just average enough to keep us out of a draft spot high enough to get Drew Lock (or some other promising QB) in the draft.

All of this all day long....

Time to move on from Alex....

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by TigerUppercut

All this talk about elite QB play that wins playoff Games when Ben played a horrible game on Sunday...

And yet on 3rd and 4 with a bummed ankle he scrambled outside the pocket and completed the game ending pass to Brown. It's not about stats it's about making plays.

[Black Bob]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballBillay

And yet on 3rd and 4 with a bummed ankle he scrambled outside the pocket and completed the game ending pass to Brown. It's not about stats it's about making plays.

Alex made the plays he had to make. The 4th down completion to Sherman and The two point conversion. When the Offense was backed up after the penalty the odds were really against us.

He did the same thing in Denver this year too. He led the 4th quarter drive and got the two point conversion.

I doubt the guy can Win us a Super Bowl but everything is different here if that 2pt conversion counted last Sunday.