It's time for us -- as a people -- to respect Alex Smith.
He is not the system quarterback you remember from Jim Harbaugh's first season in San Francisco. Smith's performance against the New Orleans Saints in the 2011 NFL playoffs was one high-profile indicator, as was his lights-out showing in a 45-44 Wild Card Weekend loss to the Indianapolis Colts last month.
Seriously, take another look at what Smith did in that Colts game: 30 of 46 for 378 yards, four touchdown passes, no interceptions and a 119.7 passer rating. He added 57 yards on eight carries for good measure. Andrew Luck deserved plenty of credit for his role in the Colts' epic comeback, but nobody seems to remember that Luck wasn't the best quarterback on the field that day.
No matter. Smith proved his point (again). On Saturday at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Smith looked ahead with optimism.
"I'm very excited, if you look at our last eight or nine games offensively, we really did some good things and took off a little bit there," Smith said, according to The Kansas City Star. "And we got some momentum heading into the offseason. Obviously the playoff game was tough to take, but there are some positive things, too."
"It was our first year in the offense. We didn't turn the ball over, we were opportunistic in the red zone, but yes we didn't really have the entire playbook at hand, and that's to be expected in the first year with a lot of new faces," he said. "So as the year went on and we got more comfortable and coach Reid got more comfortable with us and his staff, he started to trust us with more and we showed that we could handle it. By the end, I was feeling really good about things."
Keep an eye on the Chiefs on offense in 2014. They scored 35 points in five of their last seven games, including four games with more than 40 points. Something is cooking in K.C.
In the latest "Around The League Podcast," the guys ponder the future of the Super Bowl teams and break down the teams who intrigue them most this offseason.
