Chiefs vs Donks - Game Thread

[Calichief 3,016]

I hope you didn't miss it. It was incredibly concise.

 

Smith cannot throw that first interception. That's on him.

 

As for the other 28 dropbacks, he made the right play in almost every case, but his team failed him.

 

But while you've got me going some more, let's look at the Chiefs' non-converted third downs:

 

#1: 3rd and 5, and a blitzing linebacker goes by Jah Reid untouched; Jamaal Charles' reception should have led to no gain and a field goal attempt.

#2: 3rd and 24, set up by a false start, a sack, and a second sack.

#3: 3rd and 8, a play that statistically never happened, where an untouched Von Miller blows up Smith just after the snap; the Unnecessary Roughness penalty resulted in a first down.

#4: 3rd and 9, and Smith is forced to dump off to Jamaal Charles, who does not fumble this time; the Chiefs score three points on the subsequent field goal.

#5: 3rd and 12 (instead of 3rd and 7 after the Chiefs' fourth false start penalty of the game; the Broncos had no false start penalties), and De'anthony Thomas gets 8 yards on a short pass.

#6: 3rd and 6, and Alex Smith scrambles for two yards on what would have otherwise been a sack (or perhaps another swatted arm pass-turned-interception).

#7: 3rd and 10, and Alex Smith gets sacked (again).

#8: 3rd and 10, and yet another play that might have been followed by a field goal attempt likely to have been made, except for the part where Smith's arm gets swatted by Jah Reid's assignment 2.6 seconds after the snap, whereafter the pass falls into the arms of Chris Harris.

 

I'm not going easy on Smith when I list these, but he did not have time, nor did he have functional situations. As bad as his offensive line played, his offense put 17 points on the board, and it was clear that Jamaal Charles was ripping off some big runs (when he wasn't fumbling) because Smith was too much of a threat to commit everything to stopping Charles. As for Manning, he converted primarily third-and-shorts, or he went at Jamell Fleming to convert the third-and-longs. There was also a goofy blown coverage on third-and-long that Manning found immediately, resulting in the first touchdown completion to Emmanuel Sanders. I'm not sure you'll find such an equally glaring example of terrible coverage on any of Smith's dropbacks.

 

There, I was a little closer to an essay.

He would need to scan the field to find an error in coverage. I'm not sure he has the time to scan nor the ability to.

1 target to the "other WR"

1!

[PhataLerror 370]

He would need to scan the field to find an error in coverage. I'm not sure he has the time to scan nor the ability to.

1 target to the "other WR"

1!

Ability and opportunity are not correlative. Smith didn't get enough time in the pocket, period. As has been the case for consecutive years, the front of the pocket is being collapsed, and the offensive tackles are getting worked. That inevitably results in a reduced number of progression reads. Smith hit on some deep passes, but that's still apparently not good enough.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Alex Smith had enough time in the pocket on multiple occasions in that game. He was also rushed, but guess what....every QB is going to be rushed. They have good talent and Wade Phillips is a Defensive genius.

 

They're still going to lose games though as good teams with a good QB will perform regardless of the circumstance.

 

First pick, Alex Smith isn't even pressured. He stared down Maclin the entire time and threw a weak pass that was a super easy INT.

 

2nd INT, the pressure is on a little bit but he still had the ability to get the pass off properly. He throws a moonball pass and that's probably the easiest INT a db has had all year.

 

Fleming didn't play well at all and the Chiefs made absolutely poor adjustments at half time.

 

Jamaal Charles can't fumble twice, especially the 2nd one. Dude had to know that they were gonna do everything in their power to strip the ball from whoever had it.

 

The fact they had turnovers and still almost won is promising. They can beat a lot of teams if they just stop beating themselves.

 

On a side note, Thursday night games need to go away. They are always shitfests, as teams hardly have time to prepare, and they are injury inducing.

[PhataLerror 370]

Alex Smith had enough time in the pocket on multiple occasions in that game. He was also rushed, but guess what....every QB is going to be rushed. They have good talent and Wade Phillips is a Defensive genius.

 

They're still going to lose games though as good teams with a good QB will perform regardless of the circumstance.

 

First pick, Alex Smith isn't even pressured. He stared down Maclin the entire time and threw a weak pass that was a super easy INT.

 

2nd INT, the pressure is on a little bit but he still had the ability to get the pass off properly. He throws a moonball pass and that's probably the easiest INT a db has had all year.

I'll give you the first pick. I've never argued that that was on anyone but Smith.

 

As for the second Smith pass to be intercepted, the ball was coming out at about 2.6 seconds after the snap, but Smith's arm got hit by Jah Reid's assignment as the throw came out, and thus the moonball. That was not an arm strength issue, but a full-blown disruption of his throwing mechanics.

 

In fact, I'll challenge you to find three plays in that game where Smith didn't make anything other than the best decision for the play. You already have one, the second one is on Jah Reid, so you'll need to find two more. Smith made too many great plays and took too many hits doing so for you to harp on one interception.

[PhataLerror 370]

Hindsight is 20/20. I wonder what the average team loses by with a -4 Turnover margin.

I don't have that yet, but I do have this:

 

The last time a team won despite their starting runningback losing two fumbles was in the 2012 AFC Wild Card Playoff between the Colts and the Ravens: Ray Rice fumbled on the first series at the Colts' 11, and then fumbled again at the beginning of the fourth quarter, with that fumble being recovered by Indianapolis at the Ravens' 29. The difference between that Ravens team and this Chiefs team?: Neither fumble was returned for a touchdown, nor did the Colts manage to score off of the turnovers (following the first fumble, Luck lost a fumble on a sack, and following the second fumble, Adam Vinatieri ultimately missed a 40-yard field goal attempt).

[DefensiveMan 758]

He would need to scan the field to find an error in coverage. I'm not sure he has the time to scan nor the ability to.

1 target to the "other WR"

1!

 

Let's face it. Alex Smith needs an almost perfect offensive line like he had in SF to be a 12 win QB / SB contender. Manning, was able to work around a bad line by going hurry up thus confusing and making it difficult on our pass rush. Why don't the Chiefs run some hurry up in situations like these to keep Denver's pass rush at bay. Reid, was out-coached last night badly and his players exemplified that by a piss-poor, sloppy game. 

[BroncoStud 3,253]

I remember watching Alex Smith at Utah, under Urban Myer, and there were games he literally played near perfection, throwing downfield, etc.

 

If I were Reid, I would emulate that offense as much as possible.

[Guest Okiechief1]

Hindsight is 20/20. I wonder what the average team loses by with a -4 Turnover margin.

Dunno about what they lose by but a team with a -4 turnover margin only wins about 20% of the time.

 

Vermeil used to have chart that showed the pcts for it.

[DieHard 2,061]

The good thing is that last if we would have turned it ove 5 times it would have been a route. I walked out of the stadium feeling like I been mauled by a bear, but it it not what we normally do.

 

There is no shame in losing a division game to that D with Peyton at the helm. It's just heart breaking because we out played them and they are 6-0 against us.

[DefensiveMan 758]

The good thing is that last if we would have turned it ove 5 times it would have been a route. I walked out of the stadium feeling like I been mauled by a bear, but it it not what we normally do.

 

There is no shame in losing a division game to that D with Peyton at the helm. It's just heart breaking because we out played them and they are 6-0 against us.

 

Denver, had all but penciled in a loss last night. In desperation, they took a lot of low shots at Alex Smith and Charles. They were given hope though with the turnovers. You can never give Manning a short field.

[PhataLerror 370]

You can never give Manning a short field.

With Jamell Fleming, you can't give Manning a long field either. Two of Manning's touchdown drives went 80 yards each.

[PhataLerror 370]

Let's face it. Alex Smith needs an almost perfect offensive line like he had in SF to be a 12 win QB / SB contender. Manning, was able to work around a bad line by going hurry up thus confusing and making it difficult on our pass rush. Why don't the Chiefs run some hurry up in situations like these to keep Denver's pass rush at bay. Reid, was out-coached last night badly and his players exemplified that by a piss-poor, sloppy game. 

I don't know why anyone here thinks Alex Smith had an almost perfect offensive line in San Francisco. His offensive line in 2011 was the 12th-least experienced line in the league, and his backup right guard for the year, Chilo Rachal, was the key player to blame for the nine-sack debacle in Baltimore on Thursday night. Mike Iupati and Anthony Davis were first-round talents, but they had so much to learn in their second year in the league. Smith took a lot of sacks and a ton of hits that season.

 

Smith got all of nine starts in 2012, and the offensive line had improved substantially. He didn't get to finish that season with that line. He got used through the offensive line's growing pains, and then he got thrown out once he had taken all of his abuse for Kaepernick's sake.

 

Interestingly, although the offensive line had made significant progress between 2010 and 2012, there were signs that the 2013 version of the line was less effective, and by 2014, 49ers fans were complaining about the offensive line. The same talent was there (although players would go missing here and there due to injury). Smith did a lot that made that line look better than it was. Once defensive coordinators around the league had enough tape on Kaepernick, they figured out how to make Kaepernick think he couldn't stay in the pocket when he would have been fine had he just kept his head up.