It seems like many moons ago where the Kansas City Chiefs wide receivers actually scored touchdowns. To be honest it feels like we haven’t seen a wide receiver touchdown since the days of Eddie Kennison, Johnnie Morton, or hell even Tamerick Vanover. In last night’s game versus the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs yet again failed to score a touchdown from the wide receiver position. While looking at the past and current wide receivers of the Kansas City Chiefs it doesn’t strike Jake Reed, Cris Carter, or Randy Moss per se, but they’ve had a decent amount of talent to garner some touchdowns.
The problem may not lie with the wide receivers; it honestly lies with the signal caller Alex Smith. Quarterback Alex Smith is known as one of the best game managers in all of football. In some cases that label can be a gift and a curse. Game managers normally control the game to limit mistakes. Since the Kansas City Chiefs bolster a tough defense with a potent running game Smith’s job is pretty cut and dry. Don’t turn the ball over. With teams in a scoring frenzy that just may not be enough in this era of football. Under the Andy Reid regime the Chiefs have been one of the most successful teams in football.
The one thing that is lacking is big-play ability from the quarterback and wide receiver position. Reid’s west coast offenses have always featured tight ends in the past, but his offense’s also had production at the wide receiver position. Travis Kelce is a monster at the tight end position, but he will need some help on the outside to loosen things up for him in the middle. Last season, Smith failed to throw a touchdown to any wide receiver on the roster. With that said, the Chiefs spent big money on free-agent acquisition Jeremy Maclin.
Since entering the NFL, Maclin has been looked at as a big play wide receiver her. I know it may be early into the NFL season but The Chiefs are following the same pattern from last season. Two games into the season, Smith has zero touchdowns to wide outs. Being a 49ers fan I know how dependent Alex Smith is with tight ends. As a 49er, Smith looked at Vernon Davis and Delanie Walker as his top targets for the most part. Smith appears that he is following that same trend with the Chiefs.
In order for the Kansas City Chiefs to take the next step to being an AFC powerhouse they have to get more from Smith and the wide receivers. This seems as if it has been a reoccurring theme in Alex Smith’s career. Chiefs’ fans may be waiting forever for Alex Smith to connect with his wide receivers. The talent is there, but when will it happen? Until this point wide receivers that are in Kansas City should be looked at as castaways. With that said, the Chiefs will remain a team on the cusp of being something special until they find the cure for Smith and his allergic reaction to wide receivers.
