Dwayne Bowe and the Chiefs pitiful carousel of quarterbacks during his career

Alex Smith

Finally, we get to the part of the story where everyone, at least for the most part, is happy. For Chiefs’ Kingdom, and Dwayne Bowe, Alex Smith was a huge leap forward at the quarterback position.

Make no mistake, Smith was never an elite passer during Bowe’s career. However, he was the definition of a leader on and off the field and an incredibly consistent presence for the Chiefs that they hadn’t had in years. For all of his flaws, he was one of my favorite players on the team during his five year tenure with the Chiefs.

Oddly enough, the rise of the Chiefs as perennial playoff contenders with Smith at the helm saw the decline of Bowe’s overall performance. As I stated earlier, I think this is why fans mostly remember Bowe negatively. While he seemingly busted his tail for the team for six years, once he finally had the opportunity to catch passes from a consistent quarterback and play on a great team he seemed to quit trying.

Specifically, the 2014 season was the worst overall of his career. While he still was moderately productive with 764 yards receiving, he didn’t catch a single touchdown. This was actually the season the Chiefs as a franchise didn’t have a single wide receiver touchdown the whole season.

You could blame Smith for this happening, given his ultra-conservative style of play, and you might be slightly right. However, it was obvious that Bowe wasn’t working hard anymore. Sadly, if he wasn’t targeted early or often he seemed to give up. So, he’s mostly remembered for his decline and not his hard work in the midst of losing.

Conclusion:

The list of Dwayne Bowe’s accomplishments is pretty long, all things considered. Yet, he still seems like a story of what could of been. He had all the size and athleticism that teams normally covet in a wide receiver. Even more, he endured years of sub par quarterback play and still was a very productive threat at wide receiver.

Still, fans should remember Dwayne Bowe’s career in context. He finished his career as the third leading receiver in franchise history, despite playing five of his eight season with subpar (or even historically bad) passers throwing him the ball. It’s the reason the Chiefs recently brought him back and honored him by letting him retire as one of their own.