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Originally Posted by milkman
Peyton Manning has shown time and time, and time again, that he can be pretty mediocre against defenses that can disrupt the receivers with physical play, forcing him to hold the ball for longer than 2 seconds, which allows the pass rush to get pressure.
The Patriots defense is suspect, and Tom Brady is even less mobile now than he was when the Giants pass rush was abusing him in thier 2 SB meetings.
There is not a single juggernaught team in the AFC that the Chiefs can not win against with a couple of player additions.
A FS that allows the corners to play to their strengths, instead of trying to account for that gaping hole, and another pass rusher raises this defense to a top 10 level.
And if the Alex Smith of the second half of 2013 is behind center, then this team can compete with anyone.
You keep building for this window in 3 years, but second half Alex Smith gives us a 3 year window now.
I'd rather go in now, with a QB that we have than wait 3 years and hope we find the QB for that window when this team has only legitimately had 1 QB, and possibly 2 in it's entire 54 years of existence.
If we have a 3rd 1 now, it would be monumentally stupid to piss away that opportunity.
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I don't want to wait 3 years. I want to wait one year. And when I say "wait" I'm saying I'd rather use this year to lock down Berry and Smith, and either sign Houston or prepare to sign him, which is still aggressive. Then go heavy after free agents in 2015.
Quote:
The Saints game while with the 9ers appeared to be Alex Smith's 1 shining moment.
But his growth over the course of the second half of last season and the Colts playoff game indicates that he has the tools to be a playmaker at QB that Flacco isn't.
Eli has that playmaking ability, but he lacks the consistency and steadyness that Smith has.
Smith could regress, but if he continues to ascend, then he can be a guy that raises the level of play around him more than a Flacco can.
To paraphrase something I've said through the years, give me second half Alex Smith and a top 10 defense, I will take my chances against the rest of the league.
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I appreciate your optimism. I'm just not with you. Until Alex proves he can close games the way Eli/Flacco does or that Andy Reid isn't going to fart away close games with his game management, then no, I don't think barely top 10 defense (which is what we probably are with Byrd) is good enough. And while we can squeeze a few wins from the elite teams, do I think we could beat New England, Denver, and Seattle in back-to-back-to-back weeks? I still believe that's a long shot even with Byrd/Jackson.
Staying still today can assure that our cornerstones (Smith, Berry, Houston) stay here. It lets us pick up 3 to 4 comp picks. And it gives MORE spending money to make a big free agent run next season versus this year, where we'd run everything up on an expensive credit card bill.