Why Smith deal makes sense for Chiefs: Because less is more

The book on Alex Smith is that he's a quarterback known more for what he doesn't do -- namely, make mistakes -- than what he does. So why does that make him an ideal fit for Kansas City?

Because it's that quarterback who led the Chiefs to their last division championship.

That was 2010, when Kansas City was 10-6 with Matt Cassel, and what we know about that year's team is it reached the top by committing few errors. In fact, Kansas City's 14 turnovers were second-fewest only to New England's 10, with Cassel responsible for 10 of the Chiefs' 14 -- including his seven interceptions.

Related Info

Analyses

Mike Freeman Everybody wins, especially Colin Kaepernick and Andy Reid, in Alex Smith trade Pete Prisco Chiefs swing and miss again with another retread quarterback

Related content

Chiefs acquire QB Smith for two second-rounders Smith trade will have big impact on draft QB class Niners now have bounty of draft picks What a Revis trade might look like What other options did Chiefs have?

More NFL coverage

Blog | RapidReports | Twitter | Newsletter

The Chiefs won then by running the ball and playing sound defense, and there's a feeling they can get there again because they have the star back in Jamaal Charles and the defense with standouts like Tamba Hali and Derrick Johnson and Brandon Flowers.

What they don't have is ball security, with the Chiefs last year tied for last in turnovers with 37 and tied for last in the takeaway/turnover ratio at minus-24.

Over its past 32 games, Kansas City committed 65 giveaways, which goes a long way toward explaining why the Chiefs stunk. Yes, they could run. Yes, they could play defense. But, no, nobody could hold on to the football, and the Chiefs suffered the consequences.

So now they acquire a quarterback who ranked third last season in passer efficiency and who had eight turnovers in 2012 and 10 the year before. Better yet, he's a quarterback with a 3:1 ratio in touchdowns to turnovers the past two seasons, and that should work for coach Andy Reid. He's the guy who suffered with a club that combined for 75 turnovers in 2011-12, and he decided enough was enough.

So he solidified the most important position on the field not by finding the best quarterback out there but by finding a quarterback he can trust. Michael Vick was responsible for far too many giveaways when Reid was in Philadelphia, and it cost Reid his job. He's not going to go down that road again.

So he finds a quarterback who can do for Kansas City what Cassel did in 2010 -- and maybe more -- and hopes to rewrite a familiar script. It makes sense to me. It should make sense to Chiefs fans.