Obsession: It's not just some perfume by Calvin Klein

Hello Chiefs fans.  How ya been?  Have you, like me, been enjoying the fact that football has once again graced us with it's presence?  I am very excited for the upcoming season.  Football is my favorite sport and I enjoy this time of year more than any other.  It would be even more enjoyable if the Chiefs could mend their losing ways and field a winner.  Unfortunately in two preseason tries so far this season the Chiefs have only managed two more L's to go with a long line of them.

Is Andy Reid the solution?  While that question remains unanswered, what we saw last night looked familiar to me on more than one front.  The Chiefs losing games is very familiar.  Philadelphia QBs getting bum rushed and rolled over is also a familiar sight from the last couple of seasons, and last night I felt a tinge of that kind of deja vu.

I wrote this article back in February after we knew that Andy was coming to the Chiefs as our new HC.  You might want to go back and read that because in it I discuss two possible motivations for Reid accepting the HC job in KC.  As new information concerning Reid's motive has come to the fore, I think we should cogitate on it's relevance.  For instance, when I asked if Andy was in a 'Damn the Torpedoes' frame of mind, I had no idea how accurately I had assessed the situation.  No sir, no idea whatsoever.

Meet Andy Reid's obsession and most recent QB acquisition.  As you know his name is Alex Smith.  He's our quarterback in Kansas City now and it didn't happen by accident.  Nor did it happen because, as many fans like to point out, that Alex was the Best Player Available to lead the Chiefs this season.  There were other options that could have been had for much less remuneration than Smith.  Arguments could be made for many of them and, I think it's safe to say, any of them could have turned in the same or better performance than our new hero mustered last night.

No my fellow fans, it happened because Andy Reid and John Dorsey have coveted Mr. Smith for some time.  A recent article confirms our new HC and GM's man crush on Alex Smith.

Reid confirmed as much to Peter King of theMMQB.com as well.

"I just always watched him and thought, ‘Man, I'd like to coach that kid,'" Reid said.

Does this sound familiar? Because it should. Shortly after trading for Smith (between the combine, where Reid was asked about Nick Foles roughly 5 billion times, and the owners' meetings) Reid sat down with the media for breakfast in Phoenix and pointed out that he always had eyes for Smith.

"I'd always kind of had my eye on Alex, as [GM John] Dorsey did, and we were able to get that thing done," Reid said

--Per Will Brinson of CBS sports

Well guess what?  He's finally gotten his chance to coach Alex.  Reid and Dorsey up and gave the 49ers not one, but TWO second round picks for Alex (the second of which is based on Alex's performance this season so it could become a third round pick instead).  I'd say that's a pretty good 'Damn the Torpedoes' indication of temerity, wouldn't you?

Lest there be any confusion, I also think it's worth mentioning here that some of you out there (based on comments I've seen anyway) think that Dorsey is making personnel decisions independent of Andy Reid.  This of course, is ridiculous, despite Trint (spelling intentional) Green's personnel discussion with Dorsey in the booth during last nights game.

Remember that 9 hour meeting in a Philadelphia airport between Clark and Andy where Clark wasn't leaving until he had Andy signed on the dotted?  Do you further remember that Scott Pioli was still the GM until after that meeting took place?  Don't you think that part of that discussion had to be that Reid had heavy influence on who the GM was going to be?

Don't you think it unlikely that Clark, after watching the Chiefs implode for the previous seven seasons since Vermeil under first the auspice of a GM with decades of experience (King Carl) and then followed by the hottest commodity in available GMs in the league in Pioli, would opt for a GM with zero experience in that chair without his new HCs selection and endorsement?

Come now, I've seen first grade reading primers that were harder to understand than that.  Dorsey and Reid are buds and Dorse (as Reid refers to him) takes his direction from watching which way Reid goes just as sure as God made little green apples. Don't you find it interesting that we now have it in print that Reid included Dorsey in always having coveted Smith (in Andy's own words!)?  Words mean things people.

There are a lot of us who think those picks were a pretty steep price to pay for a QB that is statistically similar to Matt Cassel.  Remember him?  That's right, he's the guy that most of this fan base was ready to chase out of town with torches and pitchforks after last season.  After last nights Matt Cassel like performance you have to wonder what it was that Reid saw in this player (the same could be said about Reid's previous obsession at QB, Mike Vick).  All this just points to the fact that Reid (and possibly Dorsey) is infatuated with Alex Smith the quarterback.

He's not alone in this either.  The more blogs I read, the more I am finding that the Alex Smith fan club is not only alive and well, it's actually abuzz with Smith supporters who are hoping to see Alex light it up with his new team.  Those folks are running riot through the blogosphere telling everyone who will listen how fantastic a QB the Chiefs have picked up and how we'll all be so-o-o-o-o-o happy once we see just how good Smith is this season.

I don't know about the rest of you, but after last night, I'd say some of the bullshit is finally beginning to show itself for what it is.

Last night, you saw Alex Smith in his element.  His best RB was sidelined and took away the respect for a running game that the defense normally would have had.  He had an O-line that has been and continues to be suspect.  Hell, they couldn't even protect him from the other teams twos.  Stir all that up in the kool aid jar and you get exactly what you saw last night, an out of sync QB devoid of any  chemistry with his wide receivers who spent the evening running for his life (if that doesn't sound like a description of Matt Cassel as a Chief, you haven't been paying attention).  

The most interesting part to me was the disbelief that I saw on his face.  He refused to believe that he was incapable of getting it done, and in my mind he was pointing fingers in all directions last night, signified and confirmed by shaking his head as he would rise from the Arrowhead turf each time that second string defense handed him his ass (or was this simply deja vu from his days in SF previous to Harbaugh?).

Is Alex Smith arrogant?  I've felt it during each interview I've seen him participate in.  One in particular stands out when he was asked by a reporter what he (Smith) thought about Reid saying he was the best QB in the league.  Alex's response was, "you don't agree"?  Some people call this swagger.  It is just as easy to call it arrogance.  Given Smith's back story and his new HC blowing sunshine up his ass by the gallon, it's not hard to see how he could be just on the ugly side of the arrogance line right now, is it?

The truth is that it really doesn't matter.  For him to make a difference on this team, he needs to play with a chip on his shoulder.  IMO, Smith at his best is average.  His stats would confirm that position, and until I see him beat the world, I'm sticking with his history.  That said, it's Andy Reid who I hold accountable if this whole experiment ends in another multi-year stint of anything short of winning playoff games.

I also penned an article about the Achilles Heel.  In that article, I outlined four potential Achilles Heels that could derail Andy's attempt at a comeback in Chiefs red.  So far, they look like they are still there, bubbling away on the back of the stove just waiting to boil over.

Bob Sutton and the defense:  I've seen many comments on how good the defense looked last night.  For those who are living in that world, just let me ask a question.  You do realize that Kapernick played all of five snaps last night, right?  Our defense should have looked pretty good against the lousy backup QBs that the 49ers have.  Get real people.

Alex Smith:  I think we've covered that.  God help us if Charles is actually hurt enough to spoil his season.

The Sultan of Southlake (Chase Daniel):  If you think the 49ers backups are bad, get a load of ours.  Did you see Chase get dismantled by that road grader that plowed him under last night?  That is all about awareness, and according to that play Chase has very little.  I've seen him take these kind of hits before.  If he actually has to play meaningful snaps this season, how long do you think he can survive with our O-line?  I hope the Chiefs have made sure he's covered under Obama care.

Tackle disappearance and O-line in general:  Albert pulled one of his 'oops' games last night, and Eric Fisher showed what happens when you are a rookie and have an injury that will linger all season long.  Tenacity is great, but it don't feed the bulldog.  It looks an awful lot like we could be in for another season with an o-line that does it's best impersonation of a sieve.  If I hear anybody comparing this line to Trent Green's again, I'm going to break something.

Ah but don't worry Chiefs fans!  All is not lost.  We've still got the Smith fan bois who started making excuses when the Charles injury and subsequent sidelining was announced last night.  THEY will tell you that it's all just bad luck, ju-ju, karma etc.  Once the regular season starts in earnest, by God, you will see the real Alex Smith in all his Glory, saving the Chiefs franchise one play at a time.

I think we saw the real Alex Smith last night.  He was facing a quality defense and had to take the responsibility for the win on his shoulders and not surprisingly (if you have been watching Alex actually, you know, play ball over the last eight years) he failed.  I've been thinking more and more that Alex is just the most recent underperforming QB that Reid wants to resurrect.  Doing that repeatedly is a sign of someones cheek or pluck or let's just say it--temerity, no?

What was most troubling about last nights performance?  The fact that even though the Chiefs had difficulty and couldn't score more than three points at a time on offense, they held a lead (because of a stellar special teams play) until about two minutes remained in the game.  Then, a very tenatious Jim Harbaugh was able to find a play to overcome that lead and give us yet another loss.  I've seen all the comments about how the preseason doesn't matter.

I gotta tell ya, I think it does.  Wins are wins on the football field.  Why do you think the 49ers kept trying last night?  Because Harbaugh gets it.  Losers love to tell you that loses don't matter. Winners tell you that losing leaves a shitty taste in your mouth.  I'm damned sick and tired of watching this team lose.  Whether it's because of poor play, coaching, internal strife, poor field conditions or the fact that somebody left the cake out in the rain, I don't much give a shit any more.  I want wins and I want them now.

Tell me now Chiefs fans...after what we've seen so far, what is it with Reid...tenacity or temerity????  We are fortunate in that we have a schedule that befits a 2-14 team from last year.  Thank God, because if our schedule was rife with opponents of quality like what we witnessed last night, we'd be preparing to watch those losses build up again this season.

Thank goodness for fantasy football.  It helps fill the void that poor KC football leaves in my soul.  I leave you with a picture that popped up when I was searching for Alex Smith pics. My eyes fell on it and I had an odd reaction.  I don't know if there is a message here, but the randomness of it kinda freaked me out.

Weird huh?