Bill Romanowski: Alex Smith is ‘not a game winner’

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has never been known as a superstar in the NFL, though he has proven to be a high-level quarterback at times — certainly among the more trustworthy in the league.

And yes, much of that is because of his game-manager status. Smith isn’t an explosive quarterback by any stretch of the imagination, but he is solid. He can make just about any throw on the field, he just chooses not to at times; valuing ball security and time of possession over explosive, and sometimes risky plays.

Smith, with his game manager mindset, has been both a good and bad thing for the Chiefs since he joined the team in 2013. Kansas City has been among the top teams in the AFC during his tenure in the City of Fountains, but it has also been underwhelming at times, especially offensively.

Case in point. A few seasons ago Smith didn’t complete one single touchdown pass to a wide receiver over the course of a whole season. Another example? Though the Chiefs just beat the Oakland Raiders in a huge rivalry game win, Smith had his struggles. He was 17-of-26 passing for 264 yards and a touchdown, though he did also throw an interception and lost one fumble.

With all that in mind, a solid argument can be made that as long as Smith is the quarterback in Kansas City, the Chiefs’ ultimate potential will be limited. That’s a point former NFL-er Bill Romanowski recently made on CBS Sports Radio:

It’s well worth pointing out that Romanowski did play six seasons in Denver and he also spent his final two seasons in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders. So he’s perhaps not the most unbiased of critics, at least as far as the Chiefs are concerned . But the former star linebacker is far from alone in his assessment of Kansas City’s quarterback.

Critics aside, Smith currently has the Chiefs at 10-3 and on top of the AFC West. So he must be doing something right.