Just how good is Alex Smith for the Kansas City Chiefs?

1 of 4

ArmchairAddict1 /

Alex Smith has the Chiefs at 2-0 with a nice overall record of production. So just how good is Smith this year for K.C.?

The Kansas City Chiefs moved to 2-0 on the season Sunday with a 27-20 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. While it wasn’t as impressive of a win as their season-opening dismantling of the New England Patriots, it was still a quality win over a playoff caliber opponent.

Quarterback Alex Smith and the offense got all they could handle from a talented front seven of the Eagles, but at the end of the day their 27 points, 344 total yards, and 6.7 yards per play were enough to get the job done. Alex Smith’s numbers through two games this season are arguably the best of any quarterback in the NFL. While there isn’t anyone ready to proclaim that Smith is now one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, he is clearly playing as well as he ever has to start the 2017 season. With Patrick Mahomes waiting in the wings, you can’t help but wonder just how good Alex Smith will be this season and just what that may mean for the Chiefs going forward?

Before anyone runs to the comments section, let me admit that Smith wasn’t perfect on Sunday. He did get sacked four times and, unlike week one, there were definitely times this week where Smith seemed rattled by the pressure. My counter to people wanting to knock Smith for his performance against the Eagles is that no quarterback is going to be his absolute best when his offensive line is consistently letting pressure get through. Alex Smith still finished the game 21 of 28 for 251 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. When you combine that with his amazing performance last week his season numbers through two games are:

49 of 63 (77.8% completions) for 619 yards (309.5 per game), 9.8 yards per attempt, 5 touchdowns and 0 interceptions

More from Arrowhead Addict

That’s just flat out great production from your quarterback. Period. If you have watched much of the young NFL season you know just how AWFUL the quarterback play for some teams has been. I realize that some of you reading this may not be huge Alex Smith fans but you simply cannot watch the quarterback play of all 32 NFL teams and tell me that Smith wouldn’t be an instant upgrade over the current starter for about a third of the NFL’s teams. I understand that some of those struggling quarterbacks are young guys that the teams are hoping will develop. However, that doesn’t change the fact that right now, today Alex Smith is a better NFL quarterback.

In the past week there have been a couple of key indications that this is going to be Alex Smith’s last season in Kansas City. First there was THIS outstanding interview of Alex Smith by Graham Bensinger. If you haven’t watched that interview, stop reading this post immediately and go watch it. It is by far the most relaxed and open I have ever seen Smith in an interview. Bensinger flat out asks him if “this has the potential to be your last year in Kansas City?” to which Smith replies “Yeah, you know, for sure, it absolutely does, without a doubt.” This isn’t necessarily groundbreaking news. I mean, we all are thinking it, but it is something to hear Smith himself say it. Then on Sunday morning before the game, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Chiefs will likely listen to trade offers for Smith this next offseason.

So we have three key pieces of information here. One, Alex Smith is off to one of the best starts of any NFL quarterback in 2017. Two, Smith expects this to be his last season in Kansas City. Three, NFL insiders expect the Chiefs to field trade offers for Smith after the season.

For me, this brings up three key questions.

1. Just how good is Smith going to be as the season goes on?

2. If he does have a career year, will an NFL team give up a valuable draft pick for him?

3. If he plays well enough to be in high demand, would the Chiefs consider keeping him and delaying the Patrick Mahomes era another year?

Let’s start with the first question.

Home/Kansas City Chiefs News