Alex Smith Has Outplayed Peyton Manning And Philip Rivers Over The Past 4 Weeks

Let me save you the trouble, Alex Smith Critic Who Follows Every Sentence with a Six-Pack of Exclamation Marks No. 4: Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers are first-ballot Hall of Famers! Are you out of your [redacted] mind? If Smith’s arm were a ramen flavor, which it would be? Derp.

Nobody is alleging that Kansas City’s QB is better than Denver’s Megamind or San Diego’s Walker Bobby. But over the past month? Eh, different story.

This breakdown, courtesy of Fantasy Football Live and shared by Redditor fett4evr, offers a glimpse at the four-week window.

Now, let’s take it a step further:

[table id=45 /]

(Accuracy percentage represents completion percentage minus drops, spikes and throwaways. “Deep passing” refers to attempts that travel 20-plus yards through the air.)

During the aforementioned stretch, Smith bested his division rivals in touchdown-to-turnover ratio and rushing yards. Manning averaged .09 yards more per pass attempt but 33.8 yards fewer per game. For Rivers, the opposite held true, averaging 29.5 more yards per game but .54 yards fewer per pass.

Smith was also victimized by four more drops and two more sacks than Rivers and Manning combined.

In fact, throughout the entire season, Kansas City’s quarterback has suffered the third-most sacks in the league but is, amongst his position, tied for the 26th-fewest fumbles (four total). (Smith, Manning and Rivers each have one lost fumble to their name.)

Again, let’s not get crazy. Four weeks is only one-quarter of a season (minus the bye). Though Rivers and Manning haven’t performed up to their lofty standards as of late, they’re “lofty” for season. They still jog onto the field as two of the most revered passers in professional football.

But over the past month, Smith, who’s 46 yards away from the 3,000-yard passing mark, has played like the hottest quarterback in the AFC West, yet he receives the least amount of credit.

Statistics provided by Pro Football Focus (subscription required) and Pro-Football-Reference.com.