The constant debate within the KC Chiefs fan base over the past four years has been if the team can win a Super Bowl with Alex Smith at quarterback. The debate is still raging on, now even more so than ever.
Is Alex Smith good enough to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to a Super Bowl? A lot of you have probably either been asked this or asked someone this question. It’s the hot button issue as far as Kansas City sports go.
The question hasn’t been answered yet, of course, but Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus says that the Kansas City Chiefs can’t win a Super Bowl with the 2016 version of Alex Smith.
Smith has never been the type of quarterback to sling the football down the field, but at least he was able to make plays with his legs in past seasons. He hasn’t been doing that this season, which has definitely impacted the Chiefs offense in a bad way.
Monson digs deep into detail with Smith’s problems in 2016, ranging from his lack of running the football to his inability to throw downfield.
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"Smith has had the league’s lowest average depth of target in each of the past three seasons, and hasn’t ranked higher than 31st in the league dating back to 2008. He does not, cannot, and will not attack down field in the way everybody wants to see their QB do.~~~The majority of his damage was done on scrambles, where he averaged 7.6 yards every time he took off from the pocket, a number which held steady in the postseason. This year Smith has just 56 rushing yards to his name, only two designed runs, and his scrambles have gained an average of only 4.4 yards per carry."
While everyone in Kansas City has their thoughts on Alex Smith, there’s no doubt that he’s regressed quite a bit in 2016. Ever since his concussion or non-concussion, whatever it was, Smith hasn’t been good at all. He definitely hasn’t looked like a guy who can quarterback a Super Bowl team.
If the Kansas City Chiefs want to make it to and ultimately win a Super Bowl, everything else on the team has to be perfect, and the Chiefs just aren’t that team.
Smith looked great near the end of his time with the 49ers, leading them to the NFC Championship Game in the 2011 season.
Had it not been for two muffed punts by Kyle Williams (not Smith’s fault), the Niners would have been in the Super Bowl that year, and Smith would have been leading the charge.
The next season Smith looked good, but a concussion eventually lost him his starting job. Colin Kaepernick took over and led the Niners to the big game, only to come up short.
That’s what brought Smith to Kansas City, and he’s had good seasons while in town. In fact, 2016 is easily his worst while a member of the Chiefs.
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Monson says that it’s possible for a team to win a Super Bowl without an elite quarterback, which we witnessed earlier this year with the Broncos. Peyton Manning was not a positive for the Broncos, but their defense was elite.
The KC Chiefs defense is good, but they’re not on that 2015 Denver Broncos level. That’s the biggest concern with Kansas City wanting to seriously contend for a title.
"You can win a championship with a quarterback as flawed as Smith, but you need everything else to go right, and that QB needs to be able to provide the occasional spark. This year’s Chiefs defense isn’t the Denver Broncos defense of 2015, even with Houston returning, and the one thing that Alex Smith does not provide right now is spark. Without that this team may continue to rack up wins, but they will come undone in the postseason."
The “you need everything else to go right” part is what really screamed out to me. If the Kansas City Chiefs want to make it to and ultimately win a Super Bowl, everything else on the team has to be perfect, and the Chiefs just aren’t that team.
For example, Smith isn’t good this year, that’s a fact, but his receivers aren’t helping him out. Last week alone, Travis Kelce dropped several catchable passes, which would have gone for big gains.
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The running game is another example, not making any type of impact whatsoever. The defense is good, but as mentioned above, not 2015 Broncos good.
While I’ve been a fan of Smith’s since he came to Kansas City, I’m not sure that this team is Super Bowl ready with him at the helm. I’d love to be proven wrong, but at the end of the day, I just don’t think Alex Smith is up to the task.
What do you think, Chiefs Kingdom? Is Alex Smith capable of leading this team to a title in the 2016 season?
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