Sometimes you are one injury away from becoming a good football team. Nothing could ever ring truer in Washington after Alex Smith broke his leg. Smith will miss the rest of the season oddly enough breaking his leg on the same day 33 years ago that Joe Theismann did the exact same thing. Smith’s injury may seem horrible in the here and now but I’m here to tell you that this may be a blessing in disguise. Colt McCoy is better than Alex Smith.
Washington horribly messed up their quarterback room. Kirk Cousins stinks. They were right to never give him a long-term deal. The problem is that they then gave that money to Alex Smith who also stinks. There is no argument that Smith isn’t in the league without Jim Harbaugh. Harbaugh took over the 49ers in 2011. Here’s what Smith did the year prior and the first year with Harbaugh.
2010: 3-7 record, 59.6%, 2,370 yards, 14 touchdowns, 10 interceptions
2011: 13-3 record, 61.3%, 3,144 yards, 17 touchdowns, 4 interceptions
Harbaugh saved his career. Smith went from a bust that was being run out of the league into the ultimate game manager that you can win with. Smith was then traded to Kansas City to the ultimate quarterback whisperer, Andy Reid. Again, Smith needs to kiss his lucky stars. Reid wins with everyone. He won with A.J. Feely. Smith completed over 65 percent of his throws with Reid in 5 of his 6 years with Reid. He even threw for over 4,000 yards fooling people into thinking Smith was a good quarterback. That is false.
Let’s have an exercise. How about we take a look at what Alex Smith did without Reid and Harbaugh.
25-35 record, 58%, 61 TD’s, 58 INT’s
Does that scream franchise quarterback to you? Coaching matters. For some reason, people still can’t figure out that concept. How about we look at Colt McCoy’s career? McCoy was cursed because he was drafted by the Cleveland Browns. Considering he played for the Browns for a majority of his career, his numbers aren’t that far off from Smith’s.
7-18 record, 60%, 27 TD’s, 23 INT’s
McCoy is also younger and is more than fine moving around the pocket. When Smith went down with the injury, the Redskins offense actually found some life. McCoy has been learning from Jay Gruden the past four years. He knows the system. Smith went 12/27 with 2 interceptions before the injury. It was McCoy who stormed back going 6-12 with a touchdown. He also put his team in field goal position to win before Dustin Hopkins missed a long kick to win it.
Washington currently sits at 6-4 in the NFC. They still hold a one-game lead in the division over the Cowboys and a two-game lead over the Eagles. Sorry, not sorry. Washington’s best chance to win the division is with Colt McCoy under center. More importantly, I hope the Redskins realize that it’s time to draft a quarterback.
