APOne of the reasons why the Chiefs were able to improve from 2-14 to an 11-5 playoff team was the acquisition of quarterback Alex Smith in a trade with the 49ers before the 2013 season.
Smith didn’t set the world on fire, but the Chiefs didn’t need him to carry things offensively with running back Jamaal Charles on the roster. They needed him to take care of the ball, use his legs when the opportunity struck and basically do the same things he did while leading the 49ers to the 2011 NFC Championship Game.
That’s pretty much what Smith did and Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said that his performance reinforced the feeling that the Chiefs would like him to stick around beyond the final year of his contract in 2014.
“When we made the trade for him a year ago, that was part of the thinking,” Hunt said on 810 WHB, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “I don’t think that thinking has changed. He came in and did a nice job. We’re glad to have him as a part of the Kansas City Chiefs and we hope it’s longer than a two-year stay.”
Hunt said he was happy with the progress he saw from Smith over the course of the season when it came to picking up Andy Reid’s offense, but upside wouldn’t the reason for committing to Smith for more years. It would be a continuation of the kind of efficient play he’s displayed the last few seasons, something that seems to interest the Chiefs as the offseason gets under way.
The 49ers might have beaten the Hawks with him. They certainly would have had a better chance than they did with Doodles.
We do to!
Signed the AFC West
Alex Smith played lights out football against the Colts in a losing effort that was not his fault.
He was 30 of 46 for 378 yards and 4 TDs.
He ran when he had to and he made plays.
Unfortunately Jamaal Charles and others were injured and the KC Defense decided to quit at halftime.
If I were the KC Chiefs I’d worry about losing Alex Smith too. Better lock him up!
Alex smith isn’t a horrible qb. But he isn’t going to get the chiefs anywhere.
Oh, please. He ended up with good numbers against the Colts because they were down so big.
It was all garbage time stats.
They will go nowhere with this average QB.
I wouldn’t mind an extension at a reasonable price.
Let a future QB play behind him for a few years, whoever that may be.
Planning for the future at QB would be a totally new concept for the Chiefs.
I wasn’t a big believer in Alex Smith when he first came to KC…but he made a believer out of me..He’s one of the most underrated QB’s in the league and we Chiefs fans are glad to have him!
While the current line of thinking in the NFL is that you need a Franchise Quarterback “worth” $20 millon a year to be able to win big, Smith is a perfect example of why you don’t.
A serviceable “game manager” QB that clocks in at $7-10 a year actually allows you to put a decent team around him in the age of the salary cap. And let’s be honest, there are a lot more serviceable game managers floating around.
Are Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Tom Brady, etc better quarterbacks? Of course they are. But are their salaries better for the team?
Will take him back in SF. I doubt Alex would have beaten the Seahawks in the championship game, but he wouldn’t have lost it like Kap. I could also be without the read-option, please throw it out of the playbook.
he blows, thank god we have Kap. I dont understand the love fest for this guy, he is Kyle boller all over.
He’s a fraud, just like the rest of the team.
House of cards.
So if the Colts were down then why would Alex Smith have good numbers? #joetoronto
Nice guy, really good QB, get you to playoffs every year, but will never get you to or win the Super Bowl. That’s why the 49ers went with Kaepernick. If you don’t believe me throw in the film from the Giants at 49ers regular season game in 2012. That’s all you need to know.
Iam probably the only guy in the whole world that is really not all that impressed with Alex Smith. I really don’t think he can take the Chiefs to a Super Bowl.
So does the rest of the league…
Chiefs n Super Bowl in the same sentence? Not reality kids! Ya talkin about bizarro world! It’s been some 40 some years. Ya gotta be retired to remember their big win the year of the moon landing. Paper tiger. They looked good against everyone’s back up n third string quarterback, but against real competition, they wilted. Seattle is light years ahead of them. Stay happy about ya one n dones in the playoffs, cuz no one does it better!
Cuz the colts were down 38-10 alex put up garbage time numbers? #confused. By the way alex already seems better in this offense than he ever was in SF.
its funny reading negative comments like “the afc west hopes they keep him too”.
I wouldn’t be cheering this marriage on if I were playing against KC twice a year. Smith took a little while but once he got comfortable, his last 6-8 games had numbers like his last year in SF. 66 percent completions and was throwing 8 YPA.
Smith is entering year 2 in this offense with reid, and I would be shocked if he doesn’t have another strong season. guy had 9 total turnovers this past year. had almost 500 rushing. just a solid year. will only get better with time spent/offensive weapons.
I really wanted to hate Alex Smith, BUT I CAN’T. The man has done nothing but shown class and stones every step of his career. I can’t help but root for him.
haters be damned – as a chiefs fan i am thrilled to have alex, and would take him over kaepernick and most QBs in the league any day of the week, and twice on sundays.
lol, raiders fans.
Being a chiefs fan from growing up from kc…..
Smith is a great qb from cassel, Quinn, Elvis gback, Gannon ….the list goes on
Smith has the fewest interceptions this season
And has played all season
I’m tired of people saying he’s a game manager
All qb’s are game managers
They have to read the defense …call audibles …throw the ball to the wr that isn’t in double coverage or the best wr open…run the ball if needed
I just think the qb is the hardest job in football
If they don’t keep him for more than two years it won’t be a good use of those two 2nd round draft picks.
Alex is Top 10 Qtrback.. Just underrated. Ask your self how many playoff appearances? Romo? Look at Eli this year Alex or Eli….We should have kept him 2 more years and get Kap more time but who am I to say. Hey KC thats 2 Montana and now Alex. Joe was done when you got him Alex will help take you there after all Your Coach is top 4!
In his first year in KC, Smith is already better than every QB that has ever played for the Raiders.
I am a Chiefs fan who wasn’t convinced halfway through this season…but his second half and the playoff game has convinced me.
Seems to me the guy is a gamer. He played a great game vs. the Colts and played one of the most clutch games I’ve ever seen when he beat the Saints in the playoffs three years ago. I view him a lot like Eli. Doesn’t necessarily have the gaudy stats but dammit, the guy can get it done when he has to.
Hopefully he’ll soon have the postseason success (aka rings) that Eli has had.
Pay the Man … !!
I was beyond disappointed when we picked Alex instead of A. Rogers. But, once we did, I became a “team player” and rooted desperately for years for Alex to succeed. Harbaugh comes along, and Bam, the youngster becomes a serviceable QB. But there in lies the rub. Using hindsight, foresight or any kinda sight you wish, if you really study Alex, you see why CK7 replaced him. And, unfortunately, that he is maxed out on ability. What you’re seeing now is all you will ever get with Alex. Sorry to say.
Yes I agree but 2 years worth of what if’s is hard to swallow. You have to wonder what kind of damage we did to him the first couple of years that is non-repairable. Kap is our future no doubt but you have to agree and pretty rough way to lose your job so you can only hope he succeed for KC in the future!
jjackwagon says: Feb 4, 2014 6:22 PM
In his first year in KC, Smith is already better than every QB that has ever played for the Raiders.
————
Rich Gannon was better than Alex Smith, and he never won anything either.
Alex was great in San Fran. 6 different OCs in his first six years was not doing him any favors. He gets a good coach and look what he does. He got the shaft in San Fran (been a 9er fan all my life, but after they ran him over, I took a year away from them to cheer for Alex and the Chiefs).
Alex has always been a classy player with a great attitude. KC is lucky to have him. San Fran would have been smart to keep him, but for some reason they’d rather have a bi-polar bicep kisser that chokes than a consistent player that shows the rest of the team exactly what they need to do day in and day out because there was never really any guessing with Alex. He was mr consistency, and that is good for a team.
Oh, and it was nice seeing Alex in the All Star game… I hope Jim and Kap were watching on the sofa together.
Clock management lost the playoff game to Indy. That was either coming from the coaching staff or the players all decided to run out of bounds and stop the clock in the 2nd half by themselves. My guess is 75% the coaching staff and the rest the players’ intent, or accidents. Not all could have been accidents since the Chiefs offense was far enough away from the sideline to stay in bounds on many plays in the 2nd half and either force timeouts or run the clock down. Somebody on NFL Network that Monday showed that the Chiefs could have run a minimum of 7:27 off the clock, up to 9:42. Say in the middle of those two. That’s at least one TD at the rate Indy was scoring. More than likely two TDs.
Scoring that many points and being that far ahead, was strictly a time management problem. Any NFL fan knew already that Andrew Luck could throw. They threw on the opposite side from Brandon Flowers, until he had run so much that he was tired, and then they threw past him. It was textbook type high school football for the colts. “Make him run, he’ll get tired, then we use the entire field.” Chiefs need to be the first team to hire a “clock coordinator.” That was the worst clock management I’ve ever seen. You may see a series or even two when the time management is an issue, but an entire half?
I’m in Vikings land, but the Chiefs have always been the favorite AFC team here. They practiced just a few miles away from here in River Falls, WI for 20 years. Vikings stink, so we had fun with the Chiefs this season, but that had to be the absolute worst time managing ever seen. If you know anyone who recorded it on DVR or even DVD go back and look at the time they could have run off if they had just stayed in bounds. It’s astonishing. Say everything was going the way it did, but instead, they had kept the clock running. Indy scores at least one less TD and more than likely two TDs.
Sorry, Gannon was not better than Smith. But Gannon was the best QB Oakland ever had.
And I think the Chiefs would have won the SB with Gannon, the year that Marty was stupid and started Grbac for the playoffs.
Smith is an efficient QB and game manager. The vast majority of his passes are within 10 yds of the line. I frankly feel he is able to make longer passes but the short ones are the high percentage ones. His legs help him get out of trouble which is good. He (and the Chiefs) do fine against the avg teams. Its against the better teams where they don’t do so well and that must change or they will never win the conference
championship, let alone the SB.
joetoronto says:
Feb 4, 2014 11:55 AM
Oh, please. He ended up with good numbers against the Colts because they were down so big.
It was all garbage time stats.
They will go nowhere with this average QB.
at what point in time were we ever down let alone down big.. you tool !
The Colts were down the entire game. I guess only people that watched the game would know that.