Andy blames himself, not Alex, for Chiefs' sputtering offense

[ShowtimeSBMVP]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When you're 6-0 and coming off a 2-14 season, there really shouldn't be any complaining.

There can't be a football fan or scout or executive anywhere on the planet who could have forecast the amazing turnaround general manager John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid have conducted with the Chiefs -- certainly not to the extent of a 6-0 start.

But -- and isn't there always a but? -- there is one small area of concern that even Reid himself continues to address: a sluggish offense.

The Chiefs are 25th in the NFL in offense, chugging along at just 326 yards per game, a remarkably low figure for a team unbeaten this far into the season.

No one is more aware of the offense's struggles than Reid. The offense is his baby.

"Listen, I'm never going to make excuses," Reid said Monday. "That's not how we roll here. But the reality of it is we're a little young, but we have to get better.

"I see some phases we're getting better at. But I've got to do a better job of getting these guys in the right position to succeed. We've all got a little piece of the pie to get things right. We're learning on the fly, but we're going to get better."

The Chiefs likely will have to. Fans in this area have seen this script before. They've seen the Chiefs' teams of the 1990s soar through the regular season on the strength of their overpowering defenses and elite special teams.

Then those fans saw the same teams misfire in the postseason, mainly because the offense couldn't step up and contribute when it had to.

To avoid revisiting that script, the Chiefs must get more production out of quarterback Alex Smith, whose numbers keep sinking.

Smith is 26th in the league in passing yards at just 221.7 per game. He's also 20th in the league with a passer rating of 79.8.

But if you're looking for Reid to point any fingers toward Smith, you'll have a long wait.

Reid knows what kind of team he has. He knows, outside of Jamaal Charles and at times Dwayne Bowe, he doesn't have an explosive offense.

Reid also knows you can win in this league simply by not messing up, and letting the opponent beat itself. The Chiefs are No. 1 in the league in turnover ratio at plus-12, and don't have the appearance of a team that will beat itself anytime soon.

"Not turning the ball over is very important to us," Reid said, "especially when you have a solid defense like we have and the kicking game we have, both from our punter and our kicker."

In that respect, Smith is giving Reid all he needs, even if the offense has that familiar conservative look of the '90s. After all, there is a fine line between wanting more offensive production, and opening the offense up so much that more turnovers occur. Reid isn't likely to stand for that.

"You want to always start off by protecting the ball," Reid said. "There's no fine line there for me. ...

"Alex is doing that. And we need to point out the way Alex continues to manage this offense."

And that is the key in Reid's mind: He simply wants Smith to manage the game, which also includes managing the different personalities in the huddle.

"We've got a guy at quarterback, this kid, he's a stud," Reid said. "The things he does for this team is unbelievable. He's making people around him better. He takes the blame for things -- that's what good leaders do.

"At the same time, he's able to teach and explain to other guys with a clear head. Those are valuable things for us as coaches to see. I'm very pleased with the job (Smith) is doing."

In Reid's mind, let the other quarterbacks around the league possess the pretty passing numbers; Reid will take the ultimate one that counts. That is, for now, 6-0.

Still, Reid also has been around long enough to know that his offense will have to improve as the season wears on, even if it's just incrementally.

And that will be up to Reid himself as the play-caller and architect of the offense, something Reid has mentioned almost every week.

"I think we have done some good things, but we have plenty to work on," Reid said. "I don't think I've done a very good job of putting guys in position to make plays. That has been obvious at times. I have to do a better job."



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Sorry if Q

[mattschiefs]

Originally Posted by warrior

Hey blame that crap on the defense

It must be blamed on Smith. I mean it should be his job to get down by 14 points every week. The first two offensive plays should be him handing the ball to defenders and allowing them to score. That's what real qbs do

[Jakemall]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Are we allowed to include the 6 years that he completely ****ing sucked?

Sure. Not that it will help you in this particular discussion... Especially when you look at what results were obtained from 3 other QBs while he was on IR or out injured.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by mattschiefs

It must be blamed on Smith. I mean it should be his job to get down by 14 points every week. The first two offensive plays should be him handing the ball to defenders and allowing them to score. That's what real qbs do

Or, OR; how's about matching or....holy shit...EXCEEDING the defense in creating points!

Nah, that would be arena ball/Herm-a-Derp Lil' Chiefy

[Jakemall]

Originally Posted by Rausch

No, go ahead and throw out your completely irrelevant playoff stats now...

Actually, I was going to mention his 6 comeback wins in 2011. Nothing related to the play-offs.

[Jakemall]

Originally Posted by Mavericks Ace

Don't need to.

For the most part, since Jim Harbaugh took over in SF, the 49ers rarely trailed by more than one score. And if they did, with the exception of Philly in 2011, the 49ers lost.

The point is, that with Alex Smith at qb, you are rarely trailing by more than a TD.

That's pretty much common knowledge.

I disagree. 6 comebacks in 2011. Only 1 comeback in 2012 vs Seattle.

[Ace Gunner]

REAL NFL QB's come from 32 points behind FTW

[The Franchise]

I'm not bitching that he hasn't done it for us yet. I'm simply wondering if he has it in him. The way that Smith and this offense have been in the first 6 games.....isn't going to end well with this remaining schedule.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I wish we had a QB who could get us down 17 points then bring us back.

That's a real team!

Its ****ing ridiculous we haven't gotten more than 10 points down this season and came back from it.

Maybe if we are lucky the Texans can get a 14 point lead on us and we can come back from that, that would be awesome.

I really hope so I will be at the game rooting for the Texans to score first so we can come from waaayyy behind like real teams do!

[JENKINSWINS]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

I wish we had a QB who could get us down 17 points then bring us back.

That's a real team!

Its ****ing ridiculous we haven't gotten more than 10 points down this season and came back from it.

Maybe if we are lucky the Texans can get a 14 point lead on us and we can come back from that, that would be awesome.

I really hope so I will be at the game rooting for the Texans to score first so we can come from waaayyy behind like real teams do!

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

The way that Smith and this offense have been in the first 6 games.....isn't going to end well with this remaining schedule.

The defense isn't going to suddenly drop off a cliff. If someone is going to project that, they might as well say that Denver's offense is going to drop off a cliff.

Who's comfortable with saying that?

Andy Reid and Brad Childress have decades long history of successful offenses. They're scoring nearly 20 points a game. They haven't needed a defensive score to win any game. The Cowboys game was 17-16 and it wouldn't have been that close had it not been for the block FG attempt.

This team will likely experience growing pains through the Bye week. They're not going 16-0 and they will lose games.

But they'll also continue to win games due to their defense and with that defense, 20 points a game will be enough to win the majority of the remaining games.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Hate

I wish we had a QB that could match the production of the defense by even 2/3'rds!

That's a balanced team!

It's just ****ing LOVELY watching possession after possession go three and out!

May be if we're lucky, we'll have the highest scoring defense and special teams unit in the ENTIRE ****ING HISTORY OF THE NFL SINCE IT'S GODDAMNED, ****ING INCEPTION!

SUPER BOWL, BITCHES! 16-0!

Even for you, this is over the top brother.

The talent is on the defense. I would take an offense that can match a little over 1/3rd at this point.

The defense is so effing dominant.

its impossible in this day and age to have an offense and defense as dominant as this one is.

its scary dominant. imagine like we talked about before, if they could be as physical as that 2000 ravens team.

I mean, its that good. The worst players on the defense base set, is Lewis, and Jordan. And JORDAN is a lot better than anyone including myself thought.

And lewis has been okay. I like Abdullah better though.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Jakemall

I disagree. 6 comebacks in 2011. Only 1 comeback in 2012 vs Seattle.

Please re read it.

By MORE than one score.

That was the only game that year, that he had to come down from more than one score.

I know that if the game is close, Alex Smith can bring the team back. people are talking about from multiple scores.

like 8+ points.

[Mav]

Originally Posted by Pestilence

I'm not bitching that he hasn't done it for us yet. I'm simply wondering if he has it in him. The way that Smith and this offense have been in the first 6 games.....isn't going to end well with this remaining schedule.

Incorrect. The cowboys put up over 40 on the broncos, but only managed 16 on the chiefs. The Giants can score at will, and got 7.

Teams don't score against the Chiefs. It may happen once or twice where a team gets 28 points, but its not going to be a consistent thing.

Oh, and I don't think that we will see the offense play that poorly again. It really cant. That was just, ewww.

[Easy 6]

Originally Posted by Mavericks Ace

Alex Smith is a very big reason as to why the defense is what it is.

If the past two years in San Francisco didn't show you that, look at weeks two, and three for the 49ers this year, who tried to OPEN UP THE OFFENSE, and look how pitiful the defense looked.

Alex Smiths limitations aside. His ability to not turn the ball over, and to not put the defense in a position so they have to defend the short field, is A BIG REASON this defense is so special.

Axl has been giving me a hairlip of late, but thats ALL true... i think some people forget the symbiotic relationship between offense and defense.

"Dont **** me over, and i've got your back"

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by ChiefsandO'sfan

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --
Reid knows what kind of team he has. He knows, outside of Jamaal Charles and at times Dwayne Bowe, he doesn't have an explosive offense. He also knows he does get explosive diarrhea after eating KC's famous Spicy BBQ Beefy Bean Burritos. So he's got that going for him.