Chiefs Let's do the Alex Smith thing again. - Page 9

Direckshun · 10-22-2014, 03:16 AM

Shall we.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-...a-game-manager

The Week in Overreactions: Alex Smith is more than a game manager
By Ryan Wilson | CBSSports.com
October 21, 2014 8:16 am ET

Alex Smith isn't a game manager

It's easy -- and, frankly, lazy -- to categorize Alex Smith as a game manager because that appeared to be his ceiling early in his career. Some of those growing pains can be attributed to youth (he came into the league as a fresh-faced 20-year-old), expectations that come with being the first-overall pick in the 2005 draft, and landing on a bad 49ers team that had six different offensive coordinators in Smith's first six seasons.

That's the definition of setting someone up to fail. And while the perception of Smith didn't change once coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the reality was that he became a more complete player.

• In 54 games (50 starts) from 2005-2010, Smith completed 57 percent of his passes (6.2 YPA) with 51 touchdowns and 53 interceptions.

• In 2011-2012 under Harbaugh, Smith played in 26 games (25 starts) completed 64 percent of his passes (7.4 YPA) with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

• And in a season and a half with the Chiefs and Andy Reid, Smith has started all 21 games, completing 62 percent of his passes (6.6 YPA) with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

We've been as guilty as anyone as taking Smith's accomplishments for granted, even regularly referring to him as "a bridge quarterback" to whomever is pegged as the next face of the franchise in Kansas City. But he's proven to be much, much more than that. We saw it in last season's playoff loss to the Colts, when he was 30 of 46 for 378 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

We saw it again in Week 4 when Smith completed 20 of 26 passes for 248 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions as the Chiefs throttled the Patriots, 41-14. And we were reminded once again on Sunday in San Diego when Smith, who has long been criticized for his inability to play from behind, did just that.

He led the Chiefs on a late-fourth-quarter, eight-play, 62-yard drive that began on their 8-yard line, and included a nine-yard scramble and passes of 19, 16 and eight yards to set up Cairo Santos' 48-yard field goal.

It wasn't spectacular but that's not Smith's game. (And when did spectacular equate to franchise savior, anyway? Jay Cutler has plenty of "spectacular" plays on his highlight reel but he's regularly played some truly awful football.)

According to Football Outsiders, Smith ranks 15th among all quarterbacks this season, ahead of Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger, but his steady-as-she-goes approach fits nicely with what Reid wants to do offensively. And even if it means fewer big plays down the field, it's hard to argue with the results; the Chiefs started 9-0 last season before finishing 11-5. And after an 0-2 start this season, they have won three of four, their only loss an eminently winnable game in San Francisco in Week 5. And this all comes after the Chiefs, prior to Reid and Smith's arrival, won a grand total of two games in 2012.

When Smith signed a four-year, $68 million extension just before the season, our only reservation was that it would mean the Chiefs would put off finding their next young quarterback. But at 30 years old, he's entering his NFL prime; there's no reason to rush him off the field. In fact, he could be the key to helping the Chiefs to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2005-2006.

O.city · 10-23-2014, 03:57 PM

It's all on the WR's. No fault to our mighty QB.

**The Franchise** · 10-23-2014, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks

QFT ..

Yeah....leave out the blatant ****ing overthrows by our QB.

Sandy Vagina · 10-23-2014, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city

It's all on the WR's. No fault to our mighty QB.

Going to extremes. No one here has ever stated that the QB is without flaw or errors.

I will state that all QBs do leave plays on the field and make a handful or more of painful mistakes per game.

Can you agree with that much?

**The Franchise** · 10-23-2014, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks

Going to extremes. No one here has ever stated that the QB is without flaw or errors.

I will state that all QBs do leave plays on the field and make a handful or more of painful mistakes per game.

Can you agree with that much?

And ALL WRs do as well. But you forget to mention that shit....don't you?

Sandy Vagina · 10-23-2014, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pestilence

And ALL WRs do as well. But you forget to mention that shit....don't you?

You are deflecting anyway... discussion wasn't on the WRs and your point is curious.

Tell me why is KC 2nd worst in drops, though other teams have plenty more pass attempts?

**The Franchise** · 10-23-2014, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks

Then why is KC 2nd worst in drops, though other teams have plenty more pass attempts?

Did I say that the Chiefs WRs never drop the ball?

No...I ****ing didn't. But try and stay on a topic that you actually know about....like Alex Smith. You know nothing about this team outside of him.

temper11 · 10-23-2014, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city

It's all on the WR's. No fault to our mighty QB.

The only ones who say "no fault to our mighty QB" are the one's who hate smith. Not his fans.

**OnTheWarpath15** · 10-23-2014, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks

You are deflecting anyway... discussion wasn't on the WRs and your point is curious.

Tell me why is KC 2nd worst in drops, though other teams have plenty more pass attempts?

Link to this stat please.

Sandy Vagina · 10-23-2014, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pestilence

You know nothing about this team outside of him.

... and here we go.

derailed!

You can accuse me of having a bias, and I do... but I have been paying crazy attention to KC football since signing up here. To say "I don't know about this team" is a silly waste of our time.

This thread is about Smith... so back to the topic...

If we can agree that ALL quarterbacks make mistakes and leave plays out on the field every week... then we should also agree that harping about this one play over many days is reeruned... particularly after the WIN and the hot team we beat on the road.

Sandy Vagina · 10-23-2014, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Link to this stat please.

http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/st...rcentage/2014/

PFF also confirms this, and in better detail.

**The Franchise** · 10-23-2014, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by temper11

The only ones who say "no fault to our mighty QB" are the one's who hate smith. Not his fans.

Are you ****ing kidding me? Whatever argument is brought up against Alex Smith....there will always be an excuse.

Game ending INT against the 49ers? Fasano was too slow and Alex was used to throwing to Kelce.

temper11 · 10-23-2014, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pestilence

Did I say that the Chiefs WRs never drop the ball?

No...I ****ing didn't. But try and stay on a topic that you actually know about....like Alex Smith. You know nothing about this team outside of him.

Again this is ridiculous. Another attempt at getting the conversation off topic and into the gang war between pro-smith and anti-smith.

**The Franchise** · 10-23-2014, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by temper11

Again this is ridiculous. Another attempt at getting the conversation off topic and into the gang war between pro-smith and anti-smith.

Suck a dick. Do you know how happy I'd be if we never discussed Smith on this board ever again?

**Rausch** · 10-23-2014, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by O.city

So those plays where Smith has thrown ball behind WR's where they've made plays to catch the ball and gain YAC don't instill confidence?

I know what he is. And what is - IS.

He's not going anywhere. He's a conservative game manager with great scrambling ability. He's good in the short game, great QB IQ, holds the ball too long, doesn't throw deep.

He isn't going anywhere until Andy goes somewhere. Since I can't change that we need to draft playmakers at WR than can turn a 5 yard out into a 20 or 40 yard gain. Alex isn't going to throw it 40 yards so we need playmakers.

He also needs a better than average O line. He can scramble fine and avoid the rush right now. We all see that. But if we want him to actually take a slight risk every now and again he needs time for our SLOTH ASSED WR's to get blatantly and obviously open...

O.city · 10-23-2014, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by temper11

The only ones who say "no fault to our mighty QB" are the one's who hate smith. Not his fans.

His fans?

He keeps leaving plays like this on the field and he's gonna lost some fans

10-22-2014, 03:16 AM
Direckshun __ Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Springpatch Casino cash: $4123447	Let's do the Alex Smith thing again. Shall we. http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-...a-game-manager The Week in Overreactions: Alex Smith is more than a game manager By Ryan Wilson \| CBSSports.com October 21, 2014 8:16 am ET Alex Smith isn't a game manager It's easy -- and, frankly, lazy -- to categorize Alex Smith as a game manager because that appeared to be his ceiling early in his career. Some of those growing pains can be attributed to youth (he came into the league as a fresh-faced 20-year-old), expectations that come with being the first-overall pick in the 2005 draft, and landing on a bad 49ers team that had six different offensive coordinators in Smith's first six seasons. That's the definition of setting someone up to fail. And while the perception of Smith didn't change once coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the reality was that he became a more complete player. • In 54 games (50 starts) from 2005-2010, Smith completed 57 percent of his passes (6.2 YPA) with 51 touchdowns and 53 interceptions. • In 2011-2012 under Harbaugh, Smith played in 26 games (25 starts) completed 64 percent of his passes (7.4 YPA) with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. • And in a season and a half with the Chiefs and Andy Reid, Smith has started all 21 games, completing 62 percent of his passes (6.6 YPA) with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. We've been as guilty as anyone as taking Smith's accomplishments for granted, even regularly referring to him as "a bridge quarterback" to whomever is pegged as the next face of the franchise in Kansas City. But he's proven to be much, much more than that. We saw it in last season's playoff loss to the Colts, when he was 30 of 46 for 378 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions. We saw it again in Week 4 when Smith completed 20 of 26 passes for 248 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions as the Chiefs throttled the Patriots, 41-14. And we were reminded once again on Sunday in San Diego when Smith, who has long been criticized for his inability to play from behind, did just that. He led the Chiefs on a late-fourth-quarter, eight-play, 62-yard drive that began on their 8-yard line, and included a nine-yard scramble and passes of 19, 16 and eight yards to set up Cairo Santos' 48-yard field goal. It wasn't spectacular but that's not Smith's game. (And when did spectacular equate to franchise savior, anyway? Jay Cutler has plenty of "spectacular" plays on his highlight reel but he's regularly played some truly awful football.) According to Football Outsiders, Smith ranks 15th among all quarterbacks this season, ahead of Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger, but his steady-as-she-goes approach fits nicely with what Reid wants to do offensively. And even if it means fewer big plays down the field, it's hard to argue with the results; the Chiefs started 9-0 last season before finishing 11-5. And after an 0-2 start this season, they have won three of four, their only loss an eminently winnable game in San Francisco in Week 5. And this all comes after the Chiefs, prior to Reid and Smith's arrival, won a grand total of two games in 2012. When Smith signed a four-year, $68 million extension just before the season, our only reservation was that it would mean the Chiefs would put off finding their next young quarterback. But at 30 years old, he's entering his NFL prime; there's no reason to rush him off the field. In fact, he could be the key to helping the Chiefs to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2005-2006.
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10-23-2014, 03:57 PM	#121
O.city In Search of a Life Join Date: Jul 2009 Casino cash: $2344064	It's all on the WR's. No fault to our mighty QB.
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