Quote:
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho
If you take away touchdowns scored by his defense/ST, during the regular season the past two years, Smith's offense scored 548 points by my count. Which comes out to just a shade under 23 PPG. That's good enough for 18th in the NFL in 2012 or 16th in 2011. Not bad, but very middle of the road and not the type of performance you'd expect to accompany a guy who is 19-4 as a starter in that timeframe.
Take away a couple of laugher/blowouts against craptastic teams in each year, and the PPG dip to less than 22.
A QB who is putting up mediocre offensive output yet still winning at that ratio is riding his defense.
And yes, his QB rating is shiny and so are his YPA. It's still impressive, but less so when you apply the context of who Alex Smith really is as a QB. Minimal pass attempts, taking no chances, scrambling early or checking down early instead of hanging in the pocket and throwing heavily off of play-action does wonders for efficiency and YPA.
He's better than Cassel and better than anything the Chiefs have had since Trent Green. But he's still a mediocre starting NFL QB.
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Like I said this whole time, it's a top 3 defense that has to carry Alex Smith to success. It's not Alex Smith that has to have a good breakout year in a Chiefs uniform. It's the Chiefs defense that needs to play very, very well for any chance at a winning record this season.