Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after Sunday’s 16-10 loss to the Bills that he didn’t think about pulling quarterback Alex Smith from the game and wasn’t thinking about making a quarterback change heading into Week 13.
A night’s sleep and a chance to review the latest tape didn’t do anything to change his mind. Reid said at a Monday press conference that Smith “is my guy” and said that the problems with the offense can’t be solved by making a change at one position.
“Without getting philosophical, and I’m not sitting here with a crystal ball or projecting things like that, that’s not how I roll,” Reid said, via Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride. “We’ve all got a responsibility to do our job at all positions, starting with me, and that’s not getting done the right way. Right? It’s not one guy, and that has to be understood. It’s not one person. We’ve all got to pull together as a football team, in this case, an offensive football team, right now, and get that taken care of as a team. Not one guy. And that’s about as clear as I can be.”
Reid said the Bills “brought five, played zone behind them and pressed on the outside” during Sunday’s game and that the team has to do a better job of beating that kind of defense. The best way to do that is going to come via the air, something the Chiefs were able to do in the early weeks of the season far more often than they have while losing five of their last six games.
Plenty of people doubt Smith will be able to do that, but Reid is either not one of them or unconvinced that rookie Patrick Mahomes will fare any better.