Nov 16, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (11) throws a pass during the second half against the Seattle Seahawks at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs won 24-20. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Reason 2: Alex Smith Keeps The Chiefs In Every Game
No Chiefs player has been scrutinized and debated more than quarterback Alex Smith. Smith will never be a Peyton Manning that breaks NFL records with historic amounts of yards or TDs. He won’t ever find himself at the top of the list of the NFL’s best QBs with guys like Aaron Rodgers. The cliché is of course to say that Alex Smith is just a “winner.”
We could start another debate as to if Alex Smith wins because he’s on good teams or if those teams are good because Alex Smith makes them good. The answer is obviously a combination of both. The fact is that Alex Smith keeps the Chiefs in games and when a team has both a good running game and defense, having a QB that is simply efficient and doesn’t make big mistakes leads to a lot of wins.
Alex Smith is not flashy or prolific but he is efficient. While his yards per game are near the bottom of the league, he is in the top 10 in completion percentage and since his opening game flop against the Tennessee Titans, he has thrown just one interception in 256 pass attempts. He actually entered this last weekend with Pro Football Focus‘ best “Accuracy Percentage,” which is figured by factoring out drops, throw aways, batted passes, and hit while throwing to see what percentage of aimed throws were completed.
Finally, Alex Smith converts third downs. Despite throwing for a low amount of total yards and not having a very high yards per attempt number (6.8), he is one of the best in the NFL at picking up first downs. According to the good people at Sporting Charts, Alex Smith entered this last weekend’s games with the second-highest percentage of passes that went for first downs (41.1 percent) which has second only to Aaron Rodgers (41.9 percent).
So Smith doesn’t turn the ball over, is one of the most accurate QBs in the NFL, and is one of the most efficient when it comes to picking up first downs. So while Smith doesn’t fill up a stat sheet, his game is perfect for a team with a solid run game and defense. Since that profile fits the 2014 Kansas City Chiefs, Alex Smith is one of the reasons you should believe in this team.
Next: Click here to see why you should definitely believe in the defense.