There are some stories circulating that say Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid committed to Alex Smith as his starting quarterback next year. That’s not exactly what happened in Reid’s final press conference of the year on Monday.
There were two Alex questions that folks are referencing. First, Reid was asked flat out if he expected Alex to be his quarterback next year and he avoided the answer.
“You always get asked, is your staff going to be together, are players going to be here a day after a game like this, come on,” Reid said. “I am probably like you are – I was here till two in the morning going back through the tape and looking at it and here I am. All that stuff, that’s the last thing on my mind right now.”
The second question was about the rest of the quarterbacks in the playoffs — the (probable) MVP and three future Hall of Famers. What does that tell you?
“I still think we can win with Alex,” Reid said. “We were right there. He made a phenomenal throw on the two-point play to put us into position to take care of business. This wasn’t all about Alex. That’s not what this was -- or with his performance and what it came down to. That’s how I feel.”
So did he commit to Alex? Maybe? It’s a little nuanced.
Alex’s play is a part of this but you can’t pin this one game on one player. What you can point out is that the Chiefs lost five games this year and in all five games the offense scored fewer than 20 points. Looking at the big picture, that’s a problem.
So, should the Chiefs move on from Alex Smith? I’m with Sam Mellinger - they need to think about it. The Chiefs can not find a better quarterback by March so I do not expect them to cut Alex. Despite your complaints on him, quarterbacks are really hard to find and they couldn’t replace him. What they could do is keep him this year, draft someone and go at next year that way.