http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/10/1...iders-defense/
Former 49er has been at his best for Kansas City against Oakland
It’s become a national story that Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith is having a breakout year at age 33, having gone from erstwhile game-manager to a Most Valuable Player candidate in the blink of an eye.
With regard to playing against the Raiders, however, it’s the same as it ever was.
Not that Smith will admit it. Asked about his 9-1 career record against the Raiders dating back to his time with the 49ers, Smith gave his best “aw shucks” answer and claimed to be unaware his games against Oakland were anything out of the ordinary.
“To be honest, it’s probably just coincidence,” Smith said in a conference call with Bay Area writers. “They’re all different, they’re all unique and a lot of these last ones have really been close, down to the wire. I hadn’t even known our thought about it until you just said it right now.
“These are big games in the division, they’re going to be four quarters, you know they’re going to come down to the end and you just try and go out every single play and execute. They’re all hard-fought and have been close.”
With the Chiefs coming off a 19-13 home loss to Pittsburgh and falling to 9-1, Smith has completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 1,637 yards, 12 touchdowns and no interceptions. His passer rating of 119.2 leads all quarterbacks with 100 or more attempts and his 8.5 yards per pass attempt is well above his career mark of 6.9.
Against the Raiders, Smith averages 8.7 yards per attempt, with a 105.9 passer rating and has completed 163 of 266 attempts for 2,113 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Smith was 2-0 against the Raiders with the 49ers and had one of the best games of his young career in 2006, when he was 15 of 19 for 165 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-20 win. His only loss was 24-20 on a Thursday night on Nov. 20, 2014, which also happened to be Derek Carr’s first career win with the Raiders coming in with an 0-10 record.
The Raiders have already equaled their season loss total of a year ago and at 2-4 are one of the NFL’s most disappointing teams.
Smith treats that information the same as he does his career mark against Oakland.
“I mean, it’s so early. It’s too early to even be looking at records, I think,” Smith said. “I think we realize how good the division is. Everyone is good, every week. Every one of these games is going to be tightly contested. You know these are going to be physical games. You know what’s on the line.
“The stakes are high, they’re going to be hard fought, and there’s so much parity in the division. I think every team understands that.”
Smith also artfully dodged a question about Colin Kaepernick, his former 49ers teammate who filed a grievance with the NFL for collusion after being unable to secure a free agent contract.
“It’s tough for me to even speak on it at this point,” Smith said. “I haven’t talked to Colin in a long time. We were teammates there fora while and he was a guy who I felt obviously played hard and was a good teammate on the rise. I think it’s crazy five years later what happened. But it’s been five years since I’ve talked to him or known what’s going on there.”
Chiefs QB and nemesis Alex Smith takes aim at Raiders defense
(https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=310883)