Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith will make history on Sunday without playing. In fact, the only way he won’t make history is: (1) if he plays; and (2) if he throws five interceptions.
As noted by NFL Football Operations, Smith is one game away from a fifth straight season of at least 3,000 yards passing and fewer than 10 interceptions. That will be an all-time record.
He currently has more than 4,000 passing yards and five interceptions for the year, his fifth in Kansas City. Given the draft picks (two first-rounders and a third-rounder) invested in getting rookie Patrick Mahomes (who is slated to play on Sunday), the Chiefs surely plan to make the move to Mahomes, sooner than later. If they decide to do it for 2018, they’ll likely be able to get significant trade value for Smith, given his exploits in Kansas City.
Of course, it will make sense to put Smith in an Andy Reid version of the West Coast offense, if the goal is to stretch the more-than-3,000-yards-less-than-10-picks streak to six seasons. Given the manner in which the offense has improved with offensive coordinator Matt Nagy calling the plays, a Nagy-Smith package deal could make plenty of sense for one of the many teams that could be looking to upgrade a bad team and a worse quarterback situation.
If only a former member of the Chiefs’ front office had just become the G.M. of one of those struggling teams. Oh wait.