Originally Posted by TripleThreat:
Maybe it's because we were 2-14 the year before we acquired him? Afterwards he immediately took us out of the dumpster fire we were in and helped lead us to respectable seasons pre-Mahomes.
11-5
9-7
11-5
12-4
10-6
Thankyou Alex for 5 weird, fun, sad, happy seasons. They were fun and I look back fondly at those times.
Did you actually find years 1-4 peak Chiefs fun? I knew winning football was happening, but it didn't feel fun. There was an immense amount of tweaking Andy had to do to tailor that offense to Alex. It felt like we were constantly playing field position battles and kicking way too many FGs. And the sacks and all the "heady"throw it out of bounds plays because Alex always looked at the pressure. [Reply]
Good to see him go out on his own terms and not carted off with a horrific injury.
That said, it was time. He was not good last year, and people gave it a pass simply because of the hell he went through to even step on the field.
I will remember Alex as the guy who could have been great, if he simply took the leap of faith in himself. Instead, he made his name as a safe throw or run/sack qb.
Great at not turning it over, but safe throws dont get you anywhere in big games.
How many wide open receivers did we see him not even look at, because pre snap he had already done the defense's job and took them out of the play?
Passes parralel to the line, running instead of looking for an open man, and checking it down. Thats Alex Smith to me.
He had the ability to go downfield, he just mentally did not have the will. He played to not turn it over, he didnt play to lead the team to victory.
Patrick Mahomes is literally the opposite of Smith in every way on that field. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Interesting. I hadn't thought of it like that. Alex was also better at throwing the ball to Vernon Davis that could stretch the field some.
Reasonable to at least have the discussion.
He was also really good at handing the ball off to Frank Gore and then Jamaal Charles. One of the best hand off quarterbacks in the league! [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
Alex was an enigma. When he was on, he was nails. Those touchdown passes to Hill and Hunt against New England in the 2017 opener are two of the best throws I've ever seen. And who could forget that massive comeback he engineered against the Chargers? Unfortunately, that guy only came out to play a few games a season. I think he had some deep seeded confidence issues that we'll never understand.
But the main thing Alex did was be a welcoming, positive influence on Pat. He could have easily gone the Favre route and been a total dick, but didn't.
Anyway, I wish him well in retirement. And I think he'd make a fine QB coach.
He talked about this once. I believe Utah asked him to speak at a graduation years after he had been drafted. IIRC, he said he would basically be telling himself "Don't fuck up, don't fuck up". He didn't use those words, obv, but it mirrored his play on the field.
Dude had all the tools to be a great QB, even after fucking up his shoulder; he was just never able to let his nuts hang. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Frazod:
Alex was an enigma. When he was on, he was nails. Those touchdown passes to Hill and Hunt against New England in the 2017 opener are two of the best throws I've ever seen. And who could forget that massive comeback he engineered against the Chargers? Unfortunately, that guy only came out to play a few games a season. I think he had some deep seeded confidence issues that we'll never understand.
But the main thing Alex did was be a welcoming, positive influence on Pat. He could have easily gone the Favre route and been a total dick, but didn't.
Anyway, I wish him well in retirement. And I think he'd make a fine QB coach.
He got pummeled his rookie year as a 9er and we beat his ass 41-0 at Arrowhead that year with Damon Huard as our quarterback. He had 0 protection and was just murdered out there and horrible coaching job by Mike Singletary. Alex never really had a fair start to his career the way he was treated in San Francisco so I think he was just timid like a scared dog they practically ruined him but he did persevere because Andy Reid gave him that opportunity. I also believe that drafting Patrick Mahomes II was the best thing for him because Patrick brought out the best in him that we seen in 2017. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigBeauford:
Did you actually find years 1-4 peak Chiefs fun? I knew winning football was happening, but it didn't feel fun. There was an immense amount of tweaking Andy had to do to tailor that offense to Alex. It felt like we were constantly playing field position battles and kicking way too many FGs. And the sacks and all the "heady"throw it out of bounds plays because Alex always looked at the pressure.
I found it fun. Frustrating at times but still fun. [Reply]
Originally Posted by -King-:
I found it fun. Frustrating at times but still fun.
During the Cassel years I developed a festering pessimism about this team. Smith did nothing to assuage those feelings with his extremely inconsistent play, and lack of exciting moments. I wasn't cured of this until Patrick Mahomes. [Reply]
