Is Alex Smith Who We Thought He Is?

[oaklandhater]

http://kcpridesince99.sportsblog.com...ht-he-is-.html

Is Alex Smith Who We Thought He Is?
Jordan Foote , KC Sports Talk on November 16
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Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Coming into the season, Chiefs fans were looking for a lot less of this:


And a LOT more of this:


Anyone that has watched Alex Smith play during his 3 and a half years in Kansas City knows that he is a mobile quarterback with playmaking ability. Those same people also know that Smith is not as good at stretching the field compared to other quarterbacks. The eye test gives pretty solid evidence for that. The GIF above shows you the playmaking ability, but also: Alex is stretching the field! With a revamped offensive line, developing receivers and a fantastic RB Core, Alex should be ready more than ever to push the ball down the field, right? Right? Right?

Sadly, statistics aren't on our side. Alex has averaged 6.7 YPA (Yards Per Attempt) this season. Compare this to last year's average (7.4) and you are saying to yourself "Wow! I had no clue he had regressed in the YPA department this season..." The famous eye test sure doesn't do it justice, but our reality is that Alex is throwing the ball shorter than he was last year, which we didn't know was truly possible.


This doesn't mean that "Captain Checkdown" is making a return. This doesn't mean that Alex Smith isn't capable of throwing the deep ball. This simply means that Alex Smith is throwing the ball a shorter distance down the field compared to last season. Now, many factors can contribute to that. Below is a table of Alex's opponent, attempts and yards per attempt.

Opponent
Attempts
YPA
San Diego Chargers
48
7.56
Houston Texans
37
5.03
New York Jets
33
7.18
Pittsburgh Steelers
50
5.74
Oakland Raiders
22
10.18
New Orleans Saints
24
8.92
Indianapolis Colts
19
6.68
Carolina Panthers
38
4.68
7.1 YPA is the NFL Median so far this season, meaning that 7.1 is the middle of the road in terms of YPA. Alex Smith has thrown for above 7.1 YPA in 4 out of 8 games this season, with 4/8 below the median as well. His average in a game OVER YPA is 2.72. When he performs under the median level, he does so at an average of 1.57 YPA. This data may seem meaningless, but there is actually a lot that can be interpreted from it.

2.72 is greater than 1.57. When Alex Smith is stretching the field, he is doing so very well. When he doesn't stretch the field, he does so at a bit better of a distance from the median. He has great moments and bad moments.

Good moment:


Bad moment:


To make a long story short, Alex Smith is what we thought he is. Coming into the season, we wanted him to stretch the field more and make more big plays. He has done so, but there has been no in between. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I am not going to go in depth about how many good defenses he's faced or how his progressions look, etc. but I am going to say this: Alex is who we thought he is, a QB that can make throws on occasion, but can not make them consistently. Stay tuned for more analysis. Until then, here's what we used to put up with:

[Deberg_1990]

You want to crown him? Then crown his ass!!!

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Right. Unless we lose, then you guys always blame Alex Smith.

I just find it odd that KC has had garbage offensive lines and receivers for four straight seasons.

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Isn't that what it is all about?

The people that don't enjoy it because they hate the QB should maybe find a more enjoyable pastime. Why watch something that makes you miserable? The rest of us will enjoy the winning and the BBQ while it lasts.

What about the people who hate more then the qb on offense I honestly believe our offensive problems are more then Alex.

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

I just find it odd that KC has had garbage offensive lines and receivers for four straight seasons.

Our receivers aren't bad this year (except for a couple of tight ends that can't catch the ball). Smith has thrown to 9 or 10 receivers in a game several times this year. The OL has been hit with injuries but is still decent. "Garbage" is an exaggeration.

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by oaklandhater

What about the people who hate more then the qb on offense I honestly believe our offensive problems are more then Alex.

Some of us can enjoy the wins and hate the losses, while some of you can't enjoy the game even when we are winning. I would seriously stop watching if I couldn't enjoy a 7-2 season.

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Some of us can enjoy the wins and hate the losses, while some of you can't enjoy the game even when we are winning. I would seriously stop watching if I couldn't enjoy a 7-2 season.

It just seems like last year to me but worse on offense so it's just more of the same this team doesn't look like it's grown at all on offense.

Offensive line is looking better

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Some of us can enjoy the wins and hate the losses, while some of you can't enjoy the game even when we are winning. I would seriously stop watching if I couldn't enjoy a 7-2 season.

Ill take winning regular season then losing in the playoffs everyday over the shitshow we had the majority of time from 2007-2012. Every single time.

I do get the 'battered wife syndrome' alot of Chiefs fans have with the team though.

The 'Monster around every corner' has been true for the most part. That wont change until they win the big ones.

But i will never sit around and not enjoy winning. never.

[KCCHIEFS27]

Who are the Pac-12 football people around here? This is the first time I've seen Luke Falk for Washington St and he is throwing dimes all over the place.

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Ill take winning regular season then losing in the playoffs everyday over the shitshow we had the majority of time from 2007-2012. Every single time.

I do get the 'battered wife syndrome' alot of Chiefs fans have with the team though.

The 'Monster around every corner' has been true for the most part. That wont change until they win the big ones.

But i will never sit around and not enjoy winning. never.

Same here.

[DaFace]

The last thing CP needs is another Alex thread, so I'm not going to start a new one, but this is a pretty fair assessment of Alex's performance last game.

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2016/1...s-the-panthers

Overall summary:

Overall, Smith just looked OFF. His timing didn’t seem to quite be there, and he spent a lot of the day looking flustered upon re-watching. I have no idea what the problem was. It could be that Smith is still hurt. It could be that Carolina’s VERY zone-heavy defense (I bet they’re in zone twice as often as any other team I’ve watched this year, if not more) messed with Smith’s presnap reads and he had trouble compensating. I don’t know. But he absolutely needs to play better if the Chiefs want to make a run this year. That’s on him.

The flip side of that coin is that more than a few times, Smith DID make the correct play and/or the offense was finding a rhythm, and something totally out of Smith’s control happened.

...

If the rest of the offense plays an average day, I’m not sure we would be looking at the Carolina game the same way. If even a couple of those dropped throws are caught, the Chiefs very likely put up another six points or more on the scoreboard. If a few of those false starts and free blitzers go away, several drives are quite likely sustained that were later snuffed out on 3rd and long. What you had with Carolina was a situation where Smith was playing “meh” football and the rest of the team followed suit. As a result, the offense as a whole completely stunk and Smith is now receiving the lion’s share of the blame (which hey, is part of being the quarterback and pretty deserved).

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by splatbass

Same here.

With no growth on offense it won't last I wish people would just acknowledge that we have regressed on the offensive side of the ball

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by DaFace

The last thing CP needs is another Alex thread, so I'm not going to start a new one, but this is a pretty fair assessment of Alex's performance last game.

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2016/1...s-the-panthers

Overall summary:

Smith isn't just playing bad the entire offense has regressed.

[Red Dawg]

Originally Posted by DaFace

The last thing CP needs is another Alex thread, so I'm not going to start a new one, but this is a pretty fair assessment of Alex's performance last game.

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2016/1...s-the-panthers

Overall summary:

All fans should be sick of seeing shit like this from Smith. He sucks so freaking bad.

[oaklandhater]

Originally Posted by Tuckdaddy

All fans should be sick of seeing shit like this from Smith. He sucks so freaking bad.

This the we just win argument or saying fantasy ball lolz adds nothing new

[splatbass]

Originally Posted by DaFace

The last thing CP needs is another Alex thread, so I'm not going to start a new one, but this is a pretty fair assessment of Alex's performance last game.

http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2016/1...s-the-panthers

Overall summary:

That is pretty fair. Alex looked rusty, and seemed to be afraid of getting hit when he ran, running out of bounds well before the defender was close to him. The rest of the O looked bad too. Dropped passes, stupid drive stopping penalties, etc. I'm hoping a lot of it is just getting back in sync with Smith after playing the week before with Foles. We'll see tomorrow if they are more in sync, I would expect it.