KC Chiefs: How would Chiefs be doing if Alex Smith was still the starter?

This the first full year with Patrick Mahomes as the starting quarterback for the KC Chiefs, but we weren’t even certain if the team would part with Alex Smith until week 17 last season. How would the Chiefs be doing if Smith was still the quarterback?

Easily the most exciting part of these first seven games for Kansas City Chiefs fans has been watching second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes work his magic on the field. Mahomes has been outstanding in nearly every aspect of the game, but before he took over, another man held the job under center for the Chiefs.

We all remember Alex Smith. Some might act like they don’t know who he is, but it’s hard for Chiefs fans to ignore what Smith accomplished as the quarterback here. He was in Kansas City for five seasons and during that time, the Chiefs had a winning record every year and missed the playoffs just once.

Now, of course, everyone will point out that the team won just one playoff game during that time, but not all of those losses were on Smith. The loss to the Titans, however, was the nail in the coffin for Smith’s Chiefs career. While Chiefs fans enjoyed the regular season success the team had with Smith, it was evident after that meltdown of a game that it was time to move on.

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Move on the Chiefs did, as they traded Smith to the Washington Redskins and officially made Patrick Mahomes the man under center. Mahomes has been electric, throwing for 2,223 yards, 22 touchdowns, and five interceptions and has led the Chiefs to a 6-1 record.

Not only has Mahomes helped get the team to 6-1, but he did it against TOUGH teams. It would have been understandable if the Chiefs faltered a bit with a young quarterback in what is basically a rookie year, but they took down some playoff caliber teams as the Mahomes Magic looked to be for real.

Mahomes’ early season success in Kansas City made me think: How would the 2018 Kansas City Chiefs be doing this year if Alex Smith was still the starting quarterback? If the Chiefs didn’t trade Smith and he was still the signal caller with Mahomes as the backup, would the Chiefs still be 6-1?

I asked on our Twitter account and 162 people weighed in.

I’ve been asking myself this a lot recently and now I’ll let you guys answer: What is the #Chiefs’ record this season if Alex Smith is still the quarterback in KC?
— KC Kingdom (@KCKingdomFS) October 22, 2018

These results seem fair. As good as Smith was at winning games as the Chiefs quarterback, there were definitely a few wins this year so far that probably would have been losses had Smith been taking the snaps. One that immediately comes to mind is the Steelers game in week two.