Sadly for Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs, their season came to an abrupt end after they dropped a close affair to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Divisional Playoffs on Sunday evening.
It was not the prettiest of games by any means. But head coach Andy Reid apparently still believes in his quarterback to lead the team to the Super Bowl.
"Do I still think we can win with Alex? Yeah, we were right there," Reid said.
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) January 16, 2017
The Chiefs, and Alex Smith in particular, struggled Sunday night in a two-point loss to Pittsburgh. Smith completed less than 60 percent of his passes for 172 yards with a touchdown and an interception. All said, the veteran averaged just 5.1 yards per attempt in the loss.
The game itself was lost after Smith converted a two-point conversion to seemingly tie it up in the final minutes. Though, a hold on left tackle Eric Fisher negated the score.
Smith attempted it again, but was not successful. Embarrassingly, the Chiefs lost to a Steelers squad that did nothing but score six field goals. The loss was not all Smith’s fault. But it is the performance that we saw from Smith Sunday night that has led some to believe he’s not the man to lead the Chiefs into the future.
Smith turns 33 in May and will begin his fifth season with the Chiefs this upcoming season. It appears for now, his starting job is safe if Reid’s comments are genuine. Although, planning for a an eventual successor to Smith is something that should be examined at some point in the near future.