According to NFL Power rankings the Kansas City Chiefs are the 5th best team in the league…
New England lost to Seattle Sunday so they dropped to No. 3 behind Dallas and Seattle. The Oakland Raiders, who the Chiefs beat at Oakland, are No. 4. In fact if it all ended today the Chiefs would be the No. 2 team in the AFC and have a bye going into the playoffs. The Pats would still be No. 1 and have total home field advantage in playoffs.
Once you get past the top six NFL teams, the rest are slightly above average or below.
Kansas City has a 20-2 regular season record since they began that winning streak of 10 in a row last year after starting 1-5.
So are we happy? Uh, no.
Chiefs fans are generally feeling like it’s another season of one playoff win and done. Why? No offense. Why? Quarterback issues.
QB Alex Smith hasn’t been able to hit many passes and we scored zero touchdowns on offense this past Sunday in our come from behind win over the Panthers.
Don’t get me wrong, great comeback, but zero offense, no rushing no passing, no touchdowns by our offense.
The game was won by two huge defensive plays – one by Eric Berry, an INT pick six – the other by Marcus Peters, a stolen football that led to our game winning field goal. Nice.
Yes, the Chiefs lead the NFL in takeaways, but our D is not in the top 10 in anything else. We count on big plays by the defense to win games.
Alex Smith has taken many hits.
And he’s getting older and no longer wants to run the ball due to injuries. Worse yet, our offensive line can’t hold out the other team’s rush long enough for Smith to take his release on the ball. He’s also not seeing the field the way he did last season and is missing wide open receivers regularly. Many of Smith’s throws are off target, even the short ones. Some are nice short throws but the receivers drop them. Why? Lack of confidence in Alex.
He’s just not in synch with anyone these days.
Smith’s new fav is Tyreek Hill, who in just a few games is leading all wide receivers in catches. Hill had 10 in the Panthers game. Jeremy Maclin is hurt and out or slowed by a groin injury. Plus our top receiver, Travis Kelce is just not getting targeted much of late.
The Chiefs have a practice of picking up veteran QBs from other teams.
As in Steve Bono, Joe Montana and Alex Smith from San Fran.
Our franchise never drafts No. 1 young quarterbacks anymore.
The last was the failed Todd Blackledge in the mid 80’s. Wow. By getting vets our offense is usually ok but never great. We’ve never found a true franchise quarterback since Len Dawson 50 years ago. Thus no super bowls since the 1969 season.
What’s the solution?
Find a young quarterback to grow with, of course but that’s easier said than done.
The team usually loses for a couple seasons at best before it starts to get back into the playoffs. Yes, Dallas found a hot one and Denver’s rookie is decent, but usually it takes time.
During that period things don’t usually go well, a la Jacksonville, who is moving up fast now. Then there are teams like the Jets and Cleveland who never find a quarterback that works out.
The Raiders found their man in Derek Carr, but he took a few seasons to get it going. And now Oakland might be the AFC’s future top dog.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs are developing nobody to replace Alex Smith.
Even with a playoff run this year, it’s likely next season will be Smith’s last as a starter here. His age, lack of improvement and injuries will end his career here at age 35 soon.
Then what?
Nick Foles does not look to be the man either.
The Chiefs have to find a young quarterback in the draft. Then again, Tony Romo may be available next season from Dallas at age 37!
