The Kansas City Chiefs are preparing to host the red-hot Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium in the final game of the 2016 NFL Divisional Playoffs. The game pits two celebrated head coaches in Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Kansas City’s Andy Reid against one another. Both sideline leaders have won more than 100 games, and each has taken teams to the playoffs on multiple occasions. It’s also a contest that features a pair of quarterbacks selected in the first round of their respective drafts. Ben Roethlisberger was the 11th pick in 2004 by the Steelers.
Alex Smith was taken first overall by the San Francisco 49ers one year later. Big Ben has taken Pittsburgh to the Super Bowl three times and come away with a pair of championship rings.
Here comes Mr. Smith
It’s been a much different story for Smith, who dealt with his share of different head coaches and offensive coordinators in his early years with the Niners. The former University of Utah standout forged a 19-31 starting record with San Francisco from 2005-10. Then the franchise hired Jim Harbaugh as its head coach in 2011, and Smith’s career changed for the better. That 49ers’ team would reach the playoffs and eventually fall one game short of the Super Bowl. But midway through the next season, Smith went down with a concussion in what proved to be a tie with the then-St.
Louis Rams. But Smith’s career with the Niners would soon come to an end. As has been well documented, his days with the team became numbered after Colin Kaepernick took over and led the team to Super Bowl XLVII.
Andy found a dandy
When new Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took the job in 2013, he traded for the first overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft in the form of Smith.
Hence, the team has made the playoffs three of these past four seasons and have not had a losing record. Including the postseason, the 12-year pro owns a 42-22 overall record with the club, and a year ago led the Chiefs to their first playoff win since 1993. What’s really impressive about Smith is, while he has never put up gaudy numbers in any season (he’s never thrown more than 23 TD passes in any season), he’s been pretty solid in the playoffs.
In five games with the 49ers and Chiefs, he owns a 2-3 record as a starter. But he’s connected for 11 touchdowns and thrown only one interception. No doubt Reid is hoping he can have a big night against the Steelers in this divisional playoff encounter.
