Alex Smith good enough to win Super Bowl for Chiefs?

Is Alex Smith good enough to win a Super Bowl for the Kansas City Chiefs?

The Chiefs won their first playoff game in 22 years last season, drubbing the Houston Texans, 30-0. Alex Smith was the starting quarterback in that game, earning his second-career playoff victory, with the first coming in 2011 with the San Francisco 49ers.

Smith has led the Chiefs into the postseason twice, and took the 49ers there once. He has never gone further than the conference championship game and in 11 seasons, has never thrown for more than 3,486 yards (which came last year). He is widely viewed as good, not great, and certainly as a game manager.

So with Kansas City’s roster looking stronger than it has at any point of the last 20 years, the question looms; can Smith win a Super Bowl for the Chiefs?

Since joining Kansas City, Smith has thrown 61 touchdowns against 20 interceptions in regular-season play. He has completed exactly 65.3 percent of his throws in each of the past two seasons, despite playing behind a middling offensive line. Until last year, the best receiver Smith had in this town was Dwayne Bowe, followed by Donnie Avery.

Last season, Smith finished eighth in ESPN’s QBR rankings, posting a 66.5 (scale from 1-100, average is 50.0). Smith was directly ahead of Cam Newton and Aaron Rodgers, so take that statistic for what it’s worth. He checked in 20th in passing yardage, 14th in yards per attempt (7.42), 20th in touchdowns (20) and 10th in quarterback rating (95.4).

With Jeremy Maclin, Travis Kelce, Jamaal Charles and the addition of Mitch Schwartz, Smith has no excuses not to succeed. The offense is stacked, this is fourth season under head coach Andy Reid and his offensive system, and the AFC West has never been more there for the taking. Smith is at the controls of a terrific team. He needs to seize the moment.

Ultimately, the 2016 Chiefs will be judged by whether or not they reach and win the Super Bowl. They made it to the AFC Divisional playoffs last year and lost by only a touchdown to the New England Patriots despite being completely or mostly without the services of Tamba Hali, Justin Houston, Phillip Gaines, Mitch Morse, Charles and Maclin.

This year, the Denver Broncos are considerably weaker and the Pittsburgh Steelers are already without Martavis Bryant for the entire season. Kansas City is a favorite perhaps only behind New England to reach Super Bowl LI in the eyes of many experts. The only hesitation for many is Smith, a man who some believe can’t beat the Tom Brady’s and Ben Roethlisberger’s of the world.

Smith has been good for years. Can he finally take one more step and with it, get Kansas City a championship?