With the reality settling in that Alex Smith is now in Washington, we decided to look back and celebrate his five greatest games with the Chiefs.
The Alex Smith era lasted five years.
It was a successful era by most accounts, lifting the franchise from the doldrums of a 2-14 season and the wasted years under poor coaching featuring equally poor quarterback play. Even from the first season, it was clear the Chiefs were much, much better off with Alex Smith at the helm.
During Smith’s five years in K.C., the team enjoyed its biggest comeback of all time, their first playoff win in decades, its first ever consecutive AFC West titles. They were five years of winning ways (and playoff frustrations). And now the fan base and franchise has turned the page, opening up the chapter entitled “The Patrick Mahomes Era.”
To commemorate Smith’s tenure in K.C., we asked our staff writers for his 5 greatest games. If you have entries of your own, we’d love to hear in the comments!
No. 5 – September 8th, 2013 @ Jacksonville Jaguars
There’s typically little drama to a Week 1 game in the NFL, and that’s especially true of the 2013 Chiefs season. Coming off of a 2-14 season, they traveled to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars, the only other team to have gone 2-14 the previous season as well. It doesn’t exactly scream “must see showdown.”
By the end of the afternoon, however, Chiefs Kingdom was clued in to something—a new day had dawned. It was Andy Reid’s first game and Alex Smith’s first start. The end result was a dominant 28-2 win for K.C., exactly the sort of results that should come when you visit Blaine Gabbert and the 2013 Jags. This was the game that righted the ship, that made winning “normal” again in Kansas City.
Smith’s numbers don’t jump off the page from this game, although he did throw 2 touchdowns to the likes of Donnie Avery and Junior Hemingway (never forget how improved the skill positions became in K.C. after Dorsey’s arrival). More important, he moved the chains when needed, minimized mistakes and helped usher in a 9-game winning streak that changed this franchise’s fortunes and reputation for (at least) the next half-decade to come.