See how Alex Smith performs in the red zone compared to rest of AFC West

[beach tribe]

It was a breezy, borderline chilly, Sunday afternoon in mid-November last season. The 7-2 Kansas City Chiefs were at home against the five-loss Tampa Bay Buccaneers, rolling with a five-game winning streak that included victories over the New Orleans Saints at home and the Oakland Raiders and Carolina Panthers on the road.

It was also ... confession time ... my first visit to Arrowhead Stadium.

I will say, it was an experience I’ll never forget. The atmosphere, the tailgating, the fans ... it was all amazing. But, at the same time, it was just about as frustrating a game as you’ll ever see.

The funny thing is, though, Alex Smith had your typical, average Alex Smith performance. The Chiefs QB threw for 261 yards, had one touchdown and one rushing touchdown, along with one interception. Pretty so-so, but that seems to be then norm for No. 11. Spencer Ware rushed for 69 yards on 17 attempts, a stat line that pretty much was his average performance on the ground in 2016.

I did some digging and found the postgame column of The Kansas City Star’s Sam Mellinger. You don’t have to read too much to remind yourself of how that game panned out.

What could’ve been another ugly Chiefs win turned into an ugly-as-vomit 19-17 loss to the mediocre Buccaneers at home on Sunday the moment quarterback Alex Smith executed a bad throw, poorly leading to an interception in the end zone when even a field goal would’ve probably been enough to win.

The biggest frustration, aside from the inability of the offense to score, was the red zone performance by Smith. Most notably, Smith threw a crucial interception from Tampa Bay’s six-yard line (the one referenced by Sam above) with KC trailing 12-10 early in the fourth quarter.

I won’t spend too much time dwelling on the Smith interception, but it appeared to be a predetermined read, where Smith failed to notice Chris Conte waiting in the middle of the end zone.

And as a Chiefs fan, you probably feel that this missed throw in the tweet below by Smith is one you see every Sunday.

Click here to see Tigerupyourbutt's lover boy make one of the throws that led to his AFCW ranking:
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2017/...red-zone-stats

The Chiefs scored in the red zone 46 percent of the time in 2016, which was 26th-best in the league. That’s about 10 percent worse than Kansas City’s red zone conversion rate in 2015.

Plus, what really makes the red zone inefficiency by Smith & Co. so frustrating is that the offensive line for the Chiefs did a pretty good job in 2016. According to Pro Football Focus, the Chiefs offensive line allowed the fewest pressures in 2016 (they tied with the Raiders) and Smith saw the lowest percentage of pressures on third down.

For an offense that operates like the Chiefs, scoring in the red zone has to be one of the most important parts of their game. Minus Tyreek Hill running wild throughout the field, there isn’t a big-play threat out there. It’s reasonable to contribute the lack of a play maker to Smith’s inability or unwillingness to take shots down the field.

So, if you were asked a trivia question on where Smith ranked in red zone passing performance in the AFC West in 2016, you’d be a winner if you answered with ... “dead last.”
2016 AFC West Red Zone QB Stats
Quarterback Passing Completion % Passing Yards TD INT Passer Rating Yards/Attempt Rushing Yards
Derek Carr 44/90 47% 306 19 1 91.9 3.4 -7
Philip Rivers 45/96 47% 333 22 2 86.5 3.5 1
Trevor Siemian 28/55 51% 164 10 1 89 3 5
Alex Smith 29/63 46% 167 11 3 72.7 2.7 51
Statistics via Pro Football Reference

The only real edge that Smith has over the other three quarterbacks actually has nothing to do with his passing game. He has 51 rushing yards; the other three have -6 combined rushing yards. Congratulations.

Trevor Siemian threw for one less touchdown than Smith did in the red zone in 2016 but had eight less pass attempts. Smith’s passer rating was 16.3 percentage points worse than the next-best rating, owned by Siemian (89).

The Chiefs are at the point now where no one reasonably expects them to be any better than an average offense so long as Smith is behind center. The AFC West won’t be an easy division to play in in 2017 by any means, and if the Chiefs want to compete for a playoff run, improvement in the red zone should be one of their highest priorities.

[Sandy Vagina]

Originally Posted by New World Order

With no doubt, you and others will be throwing the same "excuses" forward when Mahomo gets any hint of criticism. ****ing hypocrite.

Then when met with any resistance, the excuse of "well he's just a rookie!" will cascade from your herpe-lips. Guess what asshole? that is just... another.. "excuse"... according to your own rules set forth.

Now suck it.

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

Originally Posted by stumppy

Good ? just good huh. They allowed the FEWEST QB PRESSURE'S in the entire league.

Because Andy Reid forces the ball out early you dumbass. Most sites had us ranked average, at best. Meanwhile the raiders dominated in both facets.

Ignorance.

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

Originally Posted by Pablo

It's like you guys just forget his explosive rushing ability. 5 more TD's there. 20 on the season, that's more than one a game ya know. Pretty solid stuff.

Pretty damn good considering the strength of schedule and both Charles and Maclin contributing nothing, despite hoarding 18 million bucks from the team

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Mahomes gets two full seasons as starter minimum before any judgement or criticism will be taken in to account.

Is what it is, Smith bitches. Deal with it.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks

With no doubt, you and others will be throwing the same "excuses" forward when Mahomo gets any hint of criticism. ****ing hypocrite.

Then when met with any resistance, the excuse of "well he's just a rookie!" will cascade from your herpe-lips. Guess what asshole? that is just... another.. "excuse"... according to your own rules set forth.

Now suck it.

I have no problem giving Mahomes leeway early in his career.

But the rules are a bit different when you see a veteran like Alex lead a passing offense that's always been in the bottom half of the league the past 4 seasons.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Hate

Mahomes gets two full seasons as starter minimum before any judgement or criticism will be taken in to account.

Is what it is, Smith bitches. Deal with it.

So, there will a moratorium on your bitching in 2020?

For some reason, I sincerely doubt it.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by New World Order

I have no problem giving Mahomes leeway early in his career

Wow, so magnanimous.

Sweet Daddy Heroin will be proud.

[Sandy Vagina]

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Hate

Mahomes gets two full seasons as starter minimum before any judgement or criticism will be taken in to account.

Is what it is, Smith bitches. Deal with it.

Like some meth-head, multi-banned, hop-off-n-on KC fan gets to call a ****ing thing!

Issues surrounding why a QB fails or succeeds is either an excuse or isn't. All of this, you have clearly set as precedent. Do not cower from it now.

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

Passing offense plagued with terrible receivers and a line that has only been ranked average once in 4 years.

Remind me where is Kyle Williams, Hemingway, bowe, Hammond and Avery right now?? . This place even bitches about Albert Wilson, constantly. Smith's fault, right?

Morons

[TigeRRUppeRRcut]

Why am I not surprised that SDH is being called out for the druggie he is... Shocking.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

So, there will a moratorium on your bitching in 2020?

For some reason, I sincerely doubt it.

What in god's name would make you even TRY to link Mahomes with the sorry enigma that IS Smith football?
If anything, I shift to full time Reid destruction at that point coupled with some WR abuse for good measure.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by New World Order

Here's another breakdown of the offensive line, not allowing Alex to deliver the ball

Perfect protection, wide open easy TD wasted here:





Even Alex knew it was a monumental **** up.



Thank god Berry and ST's scored 16 points for us to win that game.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by TigerUppercut

Passing offense plagued with terrible receivers and a line that has only been ranked average once in 4 years.

Remind me where is Kyle Williams, Hemingway, bowe, Hammond and Avery right now?? . This place even bitches about Albert Wilson, constantly. Smith's fault, right?

Morons

-Lack of Weapons
-Receivers not open
-Play-calling
-Offensive Line
-Running Game
-Dropped passes

Then when we reach dropped passes, we start over.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Sandy Cheeks

Like some meth-head, multi-banned, hop-off-n-on KC fan gets to call a ****ing thing!

Issues surrounding why a QB fails or succeeds is either an excuse or isn't. All of this, you have clearly set as precedent. Do not cower from it now.

Originally Posted by TigerUppercut

Why am I not surprised that SDH is being called out for the druggie he is... Shocking.

Feel free to keep running your "full of Smith babies" mouths; I will undoubtedly enjoy watching this entire board crucify you two morons on a daily basis for your efforts.

[New World Order]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Wow, so magnanimous.

Sweet Daddy Heroin will be proud.

Which Dane is here: the one that thinks Alex is mediocre, or the one that thinks he's a franchise qb?