About this tweet from NFL Media’s Bucky Brooks:
I'm looking at #Chiefs QB1 Alex Smith's numbers and I'm surprised so many folks are calling for the hook. Smith has a 68% completion rate, 19:4 TD-INT ratio and a 104.5 passer rating (7.8 YPA)... Those are not the numbers of a struggling QB that needs to be benched
— Bucky Brooks (@BuckyBrooks) November 27, 2017
I thought this comment was a little unusual from Brooks because he’s a tape guy. He scouts and watches the tape. (To be fair to Bucky, he’s long been an Alex fan so this isn’t coming out of nowhere). If you watched Alex Smith play, you would see why Chiefs fans think he should be replaced by Patrick Mahomes. He had a 16:0 TD:INT ratio at the start of November. The Chiefs lost all their November games and he now has a 19:4 TD:INT ratio. Something is clearly broken. Alex Smith does not look the same. Anyone who watches the Chiefs regularly see that. That doesn’t mean he can’t come in and light it up again next week but Alex is obviously not playing as well as he was earlier this season.
If you looked at just his numbers, you would think nothing is wrong. You would think he’s the same efficient quarterback he’s always been. Those who watch the Chiefs each week see that’s not the case.
I do think his overall point is probably right — that the Chiefs are not going to bench Alex for Patrick Mahomes. At least not right now. Obviously plenty of people think Andy Reid should make that move but my gut tells me he’s going to ride it out with Alex this season.