With the Chiefs losing four of five games and some (including me) raising the question of whether rookie quarterback Patrick Mahomes should get a chance to play, it’s interesting to ponder coach Andy Reid’s comments to the media the day after an embarrassing loss to the Giants, which featured nine total points in more than 68 total minutes.
Asked to discuss quarterback Alex Smith’s performance after watching the film of the game, Reid said this about his current starter: “He mentioned about getting in rhythm, I know that was said. I felt the same way that we, over the last couple of weeks, we get going and then all of a sudden something takes you backwards. In this league that’s a tough thing to overcome and it’s a proven thing.”
So who has the responsibility for getting the offense in rhythm?
“The quarterback has the responsibility there,” Reid said. “He’s a standup guy and he’s always going to tell you he can do better.”
Reid nevertheless acknowledged that plenty of other factors impact a quarterback’s perceived performance, including late pressure on his arm or a poorly run route or whether the call was right for the coverage.
“That’s how we go about it and that’s how you play, all of those things go into that and that’s how we analyze that,” Reid said. “It’s been fairly successful for us. We’re going to keep doing that. We’re going to tweak what we need tweaked and we’re going to keep working that system that we’re doing and try to get better at it.”
Reid knows he’s part of that overall process.
“I’ve got to make sure I’m putting the guys in the right position to make the plays, Alex included, and then when given the chance we’ve got to make them,” Reid said. “Right now it’s one of those things where we’re off by one tick on a play. Now unfortunately that’s costing us and we have to get out of that. We have to all pull together here and keep pulling that rope in the tug-o-war in the right direction. If we do that we’re going to be OK. You have to dance the same dance, everybody has to be dancing that. You have a mistake here or there and bad things happen unfortunately.”
That doesn’t sound like a guy who’s thinking about making a change at quarterback. At some point, however, change for the sake of change may be the only thing that busts the team out of its 1-4 funk. Especially if the guy ultimately responsible for getting the offense in rhythm has lost his ability to do so, and can’t get it back.