How long until the Chiefs need to consider benching Alex Smith?

[kingseanjohn]

6 minutes ago, ILoveTheVikings said:

You only bench a QB if you have a better option

Pretty sure we do have a better option. And we just used two 1sts and a 3rd to get him.

If Alex has a bad outing against the Bills, it'll be time to see how Mahomes does and let him get some game action.

[Jakuvious]

1 hour ago, ILoveTheVikings said:

You only bench a QB if you have a better option

While I won't refute this, because Mahomes is not likely to be better right now, we do have an option that is going to be chosen in lieu of Smith eventually. It's more a question of timing than it is quality, in this situation. It isn't like a Buffalo situation, where they promoted a rookie who wasn't really intended to be a QBOTF in the hopes of immediate improvement. If KC were to bench Smith, it would really just be to start that transition sooner. If better play came as well, that would be nice, but not necessarily the point.

[43M]

Honestly, if Smith doesnt get things going, I think they really need to consider it.   

I honestly dont think Smith has what it takes to take them all the way anyway, so if he keeps struggling during the regular season, I think you have to take the chance with Mahomes.  Sure, he might be worse, but as stated, it will probably start next year either way, and he may provide a spark the Chiefs seem to need.    Alex Smith IMO wont make the throws you need a QB to make down the stretch to go all the way.   Sure, there have been other QBs worse than Smith to win but its rare.    Sure, Smith has a good defense and running game backing him up, but not sure thats enough.  With Mahomes though, it might be.

I see both sides of the argument, but I think they need to be open to the idea of plugging Mahomes in this year.

[Nabbs4u]

You bench Smith only when you're mathematically eliminated from the Playoffs. Not before. Funny how in a matter of a month he went from possible MVP to bench him for a Rookie!!

Comical

[TecmoSuperJoe]

1 hour ago, Nabbs4u said:

You bench Smith only when you're mathematically eliminated from the Playoffs. Not before. Funny how in a matter of a month he went from possible MVP to bench him for a Rookie!!

Comical

Instant gratification era syndrome. 

[Phire]

I think you have to ride Alex Smith the rest of the year, even if that means he drives the team into the ground. If he does tank the team, then you start Mahomes next year.

[Chiefer]

11 hours ago, PapaShogun said:

Instant gratification era syndrome. 

No, Smith just came back down to Earth. Or he's incapable of taking advantage of a cover two/zone defense.

So it's a decision of whether or not the future has the playmaking chops to win you some games that the old noodle-armed vet can't.

[ronjon1990]

On 11/20/2017 at 12:04 AM, tonyto36 said:

First five games:

5-0 record
33 PPG
123 rushing yards per game
Smith:  278 YPG, 75CMP%, 11TD 0 INT.  2.2 TDPG, 0 INTPG
22.2 points per game allowed

 

Past five games:

1-4
53 rushing yards per game
20 PPG
Smith:  211 YPG, 61CMP%, 7 TD, 3 INT.  1.4TDPG, 0.6 INTPG
21.6 points per game allowed

 

Smith's passing game has never been the focal point of the Chief's offense. Everybody knows that. The rushing numbers say all that needs to be said- Smith's passing numbers are taking a hit because of an inability to run the ball. 

1005 yds, 7 TD, 3 INT over a 5 game span isn't that bad. It's probably average, considering who the Chiefs have played, outside of the stinker against the Giants. 

265 rushing yards over a 5 game span, however, is bad. 

Against the Steelers (really good D) he was getting close to 300 yards. Had 342 against the Raiders, a good one against the Cowboys with 263 and 2 TDs. He had a single bad game this year- the Giants. But it's a team effort, and it looks to me like the run game has been more problematic. Smith is on pace for the best season of his career, even with the slump. Benching him would be very Anthony Lynn-ish. 

So, no. 

[Hunter2_1]

He just regressed to his usual mean. It was apparently always unsustainable, the way he was playing. We've had 12 years of analysis now.

But there's no way I'd bench him this season. Just ask him to do focus on his strengths, which is shovel passing to Kelce and play action 5-10 yarders. If teams play cover 2 on him, use Hunt who is great at making people miss (they're already keeping two away from him).

[TecmoSuperJoe]

7 hours ago, Chiefer said:

No, Smith just came back down to Earth. Or he's incapable of taking advantage of a cover two/zone defense.

So it's a decision of whether or not the future has the playmaking chops to win you some games that the old noodle-armed vet can't.

Smith doesn't have a noodle arm. 

And his biggest issue has been reluctance to pull the trigger, not dealing with a zone scheme that is his kryptonite or whatever.

Didn't see the Giants game, but Smith did struggle with zone coverage against the Steelers and Cowboys. However he played well against the Raiders and Broncos who threw a lot of zone looks his way.

[Jakuvious]

6 hours ago, ronjon1990 said:

Smith's passing game has never been the focal point of the Chief's offense. Everybody knows that. The rushing numbers say all that needs to be said- Smith's passing numbers are taking a hit because of an inability to run the ball. 

1005 yds, 7 TD, 3 INT over a 5 game span isn't that bad. It's probably average, considering who the Chiefs have played, outside of the stinker against the Giants. 

265 rushing yards over a 5 game span, however, is bad. 

Against the Steelers (really good D) he was getting close to 300 yards. Had 342 against the Raiders, a good one against the Cowboys with 263 and 2 TDs. He had a single bad game this year- the Giants. But it's a team effort, and it looks to me like the run game has been more problematic. Smith is on pace for the best season of his career, even with the slump. Benching him would be very Anthony Lynn-ish. 

So, no. 

This is just pure box score scouting. He did play fine against Oakland. Mostly because Oakland is a horrible defense. His games against the Steelers and Cowboys were NOT good games. And it's clear from watching them. The Hill Mary was the only thing making the Cowboys game look good statistically. The deep ball to DAT against Pittsburgh saved his stats there. These were games where he missed several open receivers, had a handful of misreads, and spent most of the game dumping passes off short of the sticks. The Pittsburgh game is the only one where the run game was particularly horrible. Dallas we just didn't attempt to run due to spending the entire game playing from behind. And since the Pittsburgh game teams have played primarily zone in coverage and sold out to stop the run, and Smith hasn't been able to take advantage of the latter and properly attack the former.

[Jakuvious]

36 minutes ago, PapaShogun said:

Smith doesn't have a noodle arm. 

And his biggest issue has been reluctance to pull the trigger, not dealing with a zone scheme that is his kryptonite or whatever.

Didn't see the Giants game, but Smith did struggle with zone coverage against the Steelers and Cowboys. However he played well against the Raiders and Broncos who threw a lot of zone looks his way.

In the past, you're correct, it's been his reluctance to pull the trigger. This year it has been something completely different. It has seriously been opposing teams playing zone. It's been analyzed ad nauseum on Twitter by Chiefs beat writers. It's seriously bad. Pitt played nothing but zone, Alex completely collapsed against it, and every team since has played zone substantially more than they normally do. Yes, he played well against Oakland, because Oakland's defense is just really bad. His game against Denver was...okay....for a game against Denver, but we're talking about a game where he completed less than half of his passes as one of his better games.

Smith has had no problem with deep passes this year. Not Rodgers level accurate or anything, obviously, but even in his slump he's pulled the trigger on far more deep balls than he has in years past. That isn't the issue anymore. His issue right now is that he isn't making the correct reads on short and intermediate passes against zone defenses. He's either been checkdown or deep ball. No in between.

[RaisinBran]

He's still having a great year... he didn't even throw his first pick until this last game. The Raiders beat the Chiefs because their defense couldn't cover Amari Cooper... Smith has had really good numbers in a few of their losses... not his fault.

[ILoveTheVikings]

On 11/22/2017 at 12:35 AM, Jakuvious said:

While I won't refute this, because Mahomes is not likely to be better right now, we do have an option that is going to be chosen in lieu of Smith eventually. It's more a question of timing than it is quality, in this situation. It isn't like a Buffalo situation, where they promoted a rookie who wasn't really intended to be a QBOTF in the hopes of immediate improvement. If KC were to bench Smith, it would really just be to start that transition sooner. If better play came as well, that would be nice, but not necessarily the point.

Well, despite the recent losses KC is still battling for a play off spot (they currently are in the play offs as of right now anyway).

Smith is miles ahead of Mahomes right now. If KC were in a rebuilding year I would argue that Mahomes should replace him, but KC is still a play off team and Smith isn't exactly playing horribly. 

[showtime]

I would let Smith continue the rest of this season, but I would 100% get rid of him during the off-season.  They need to hand the reigns over to Patrick Mahomes II and let him start.