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Should Andy be criticized for not starting Mahomes down the stretch?


Art_Vandalay

Should Andy be criticized?  

51 members have voted

  1. 1. Should Andy be criticized?

    • Yes, Mahomes clearly gave the Chiefs a better chance to win than Alex Smith
      7
    • No, you can't bench Alex for a rookie
      44


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I remember at the end of last year Andy was asked knowing what he knows now, would he take Deshaun Watson over Patrick Mahomes. He said he'd still take Mahomes. At the time, you think it's coach speak. That's what he has to say. But now you realize he genuinely meant what he said.

I can't help but think he missed a golden opportunity. Going into the last quarter of the season, the Chiefs were coming off a four game losing streak. Andy knew Mahomes was a rockstar and there was almost no NFL tape on him. And it wouldn't have been the first time something similar to this had happened (Harbaugh and Smith/Kaepernick). 

So, even though Andy knew Mahomes was the better QB, it seems to me he didn't want to start him because he was afraid of the backlash. I think if you know that another player gives your team a better chance of winning, then that's who you go with regardless of what the public says. We're watching Mahomes do incredible things this year and I haven't seen a single person say, "Wait, this is what you had and you decided to stick with the bland spaghetti dinner that is Alex Smith?" Am I being too critical here?

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I voted for the option "you can't bench Alex Smith" because i have no idea how Mahomes would have performed if he would have been put into the situation and played the playoffs instead of Alex. You also would have needed to explain it to the teammates, who loved Alex from what was reported and who most likely wouldn't have understood that decision after Alex played his best season of his career so far. I think it's obvious such a decision would have resulted in a huge discussion and media focus. We can only speculate if it would have had overall positive or negative effects on the playoff game.

I think Pat had to earn the respect from his teammates in the offseason. I dunno how much the offseason helped him in general, but i imagine that it was a huge deal to get reps with the starters and to build up chemistry with them. In the offseason he had a chance to process everything he learned in the previous season from our coaching staff and Smith which helped him to develope into the QB he is now. We played it the safe way with him for sure, but i definitely wouldn't want to change anything, because the Mahomes we have now is absolutely amazing.

Edit: Such a decision would have been disrespectful towards Alex Smith. He's never going to be an elite QB, but he is a capable QB, who seems to be a hell of a person. He definitely wouldn't have deserved it to be benched for the playoffs.

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1 hour ago, Art_Vandalay said:

 Andy knew Mahomes was a rockstar and there was almost no NFL tape on him.

Why put this guy on tape and give the NFL DC's an entire offseason to study the tape ?

Chiefs went 4-0 down the stretch, made the playoffs, pimped Alex Smith's value and scored both a 3rd round draft pick and a starting CB via trade

What part of that is "wrong" ?
I think Reid played it brilliantly, maximizing trade value and keeping his wunderkind under wraps

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15 minutes ago, Shanedorf said:

Chiefs went 4-0 down the stretch, made the playoffs, pimped Alex Smith's value and scored both a 3rd round draft pick and a starting CB via trade

I'd say this alone makes this a moot point. Hindsight is 20/20, but Hindsight says the Chiefs ended up pretty well with their decision to keep Mahomes on the bench.

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12 minutes ago, Shanedorf said:

Why put this guy on tape and give the NFL DC's an entire offseason to study the tape ?

Chiefs went 4-0 down the stretch, made the playoffs, pimped Alex Smith's value and scored both a 3rd round draft pick and a starting CB via trade

What part of that is "wrong" ?
I think Reid played it brilliantly, maximizing trade value and keeping his wunderkind under wraps

What's the ultimate goal? To up Alex Smith's trade value or win the Super Bowl? Mahomes is going to be great regardless. I just think catching teams off-guard at the end of the season and putting in the better QB would be the logical move.

Hindsight is 20/20 yada yada yada... An offseason didn't make Mahomes better than Alex Smith. Yeah, there's value in having reps with the 1's, I get it. But I'll go back to what Jim Harbaugh did with Smith. The Niners were winning but it's evident a guy like Alex Smith leading you to a Super Bowl is a huge longshot. Harbaugh was brave enough to make the move, insert the better QB, absorb the initial criticism, and was one play away from a Super Bowl victory.

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1 hour ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

Hindsight is 20/20.

Pretty much this. If this had been a similar situation to 2012, where Smith got hurt, Kaepernick came in and played well, and you decided to switch with at least some legitimate sample size / showing from the other quarterback, fine. But Mahomes had no real sample last year until the last game of the season and they were in the middle of a playoff run. Were you seriously going to just push out a healthy Smith, having the best season of his career for a few games in weeks 8-10 just to see if Mahomes could hack it and was the better option? 

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3 minutes ago, ET80 said:

I'd say this alone makes this a moot point. Hindsight is 20/20, but Hindsight says the Chiefs ended up pretty well with their decision to keep Mahomes on the bench.

The Chiefs went 4-0 down the stretch... then got upset by Tennessee. It was considered an upset but was anyone really surprised? I feel like the takeaway from that game in most peoples eyes was, "Yeah, they lost a game they probably should've won their QB is Alex Smith so what do you expect..."

Simply put, don't you just go with the guy who's better? Shouldn't it work that way with any position in any sport? 

- This guy always hits the cutoff man and bats a solid 280, but this guy doesn't need a cutoff man and bats 350.
- This point guard rarely turns it over and makes smart passes, but this point guard does the same and can also hit 3's.
- This DE is disciplined, but this DE is more gifted and gets us a sack per game.

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14 minutes ago, Art_Vandalay said:

What's the ultimate goal? To up Alex Smith's trade value or win the Super Bowl?

If you can do both, why not? I mean, it isn't like they lost in the playoffs because of some implosion by Smith - the Chiefs D gave up a ton to the Titans in that 1st round playoff game. 

14 minutes ago, Art_Vandalay said:

Mahomes is going to be great regardless. I just think catching teams off-guard at the end of the season and putting in the better QB would be the logical move.

Who knows if Mahomes is as good as he is now without the reps with the 1s, etc...

14 minutes ago, Art_Vandalay said:

The Niners were winning but it's evident a guy like Alex Smith leading you to a Super Bowl is a huge longshot. Harbaugh was brave enough to make the move, insert the better QB, absorb the initial criticism, and was one play away from a Super Bowl victory.

Apples and oranges - Pat Mahomes is winning games because of dynamic arm talent and an in-depth understanding of the offense he's running. Kaepernick was able to win early based on his dynamic running ability - the offense was scaled back and Kaepernick was asked to run a lot

Mahomes can run, but that's not the crux of his skill. So, you can't assume he just steps in and makes the same plays he's making now without the reps as the #1.

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3 minutes ago, ET80 said:

Mahomes can run, but that's not the crux of his skill. So, you can't assume he just steps in and makes the same plays he's making now without the reps as the #1

I get it. There's risk involved but a much higher reward. Even if they did beat Tennessee with Alex Smith, do you see them winning two road games against New England, Pittsburgh, or Jacksonville?

Realistically, what was the ceiling for an Alex Smith led team?

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2 minutes ago, Art_Vandalay said:

I get it. There's risk involved but a much higher reward. Even if they did beat Tennessee with Alex Smith, do you see them winning two road games against New England, Pittsburgh, or Jacksonville?

Realistically, what was the ceiling for an Alex Smith led team?

Any chance you have residual Andy Reid-itis from his days in Philly ?  :)

What are the realistic chances that a rookie QB in his first 6 starts is gonna go on the road and win at NE, at Pitt or at Jville ?
That's a tall task for a vet QB, its even harder for a guy who just got there. The offense and team were built around Smith, its really really hard to switch to the plays that fit Mahomes in the middle of the season. It stresses the other offensive players immensely to make those changes during the season and there's no guarantee of success

The offseason was the perfect time to go all in on Mahomes and his style of play - which is significantly different than the Smith style of play

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3 minutes ago, Art_Vandalay said:

I get it. There's risk involved but a much higher reward. Even if they did beat Tennessee with Alex Smith, do you see them winning two road games against New England, Pittsburgh, or Jacksonville?

Realistically, what was the ceiling for an Alex Smith led team?

I don't see last years' Chiefs beating NE, Pitt or Jax on the road either - with Smith OR Mahomes. (Heck, Mahomes lost to NE this season, and really didn't look his best against Jax in that W - a Jags team that was pretty different than this Jags team).

It's a net zero game - I personally don't think you gain or lose given the competition you're looking at from year to year. Does he give you a better chance? Maybe, but "better chance" doesn't equate to a win.

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