Chiefs Camp Day 10: Alex Smith Leads The Way
The Chiefs were back at it early Tuesday morning, and Alex Smith got the offense going. According to Reid Ferrin of KCChiefs.com, Alex Smith had the crowd going with his pinpoint accuracy. Ferrin reports that Smith was nearly perfect and that he unofficially went 17 for 20 on passes, including three touchdowns.
Jul 28, 2013; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith (11) drops back to pass during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
Smith has had a great camp for Kansas City, which is very encouraging for the team and fans. I believe that Smith is on the verge of putting up career numbers this season. Smith seems to be very confident in his abilities and his teammates.
"“It’s a reflection of the group,” Smith said. “O-line was great today; it starts with them. They did a good job communicating, especially in the blitz period, third down, everybody was on the same page and then there were guys making plays outside. We got off to a good start but really, I think the spark came from the guys up-front.”"
Smith’s trend of finding his tight ends has seemed to carry over with him to his new team. Tight end Anthony Fasano caught three straight passes from Smith today, the last one being a touchdown. Smith has been doing a good job of spreading the ball around, but has been killing the defenses with his tight ends, especially in the red zone drills. Having three pass catching TE’s will come up big for KC this season.
Dwayne Bowe got involved today, making a very crowd pleasing one-handed catch. Bowe is going to get the ball this season, there is now doubt in my mind about that. Bowe is the only receiver the Chiefs have that can consistently get open. Dexter McCluster has been great so far this camp, and Donnie Avery has been able to make a few plays as well. Both of those guys speed could help take some of the pressure off of Bowe this season. Avery and McCluster’s ability to stretch the defense vertically should either result in big plays for the Chiefs, or keep safeties honest and stay with them deep. Either way, someone has to step up for Kansas City at that position.
The defense made some plays as well. According to Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star, the defense was able to apply heavy pressure yet again during blitz, and third down situation drills. At one point, the defense had 3 sacks over a stretch of just five plays. One of the biggest standouts on defense the entire camp has linebacker, Justin Houston. Houston is poised to have a career year as well. I expect his progression to continue big time this season, and he touched on that himself today after practice during his meeting with the media.
"“The whole team is focused.” said Houston, “I just wanna get better each and every year and I want to improve my game, so any little thing I can do to improve, I’m trying to do it.” Houston was asked which areas he feels the need to improve, “All areas, playing against the run I can be better, rushing the passer, and in coverage; I could be better all around.”"
Houston is a beast and I expect him to really turn a corner in his career this season. He and his partner in crime, Tamba Hali, should wreak havoc against the opposing teams QB’s, especially with the new attack style defense. He and this entire defensive unit should be fun to watch.
The Chiefs are back at it Wednesday morning at 8:15 AM, which will finish them up for the week. I will be attending the game on Friday night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. I was lucky enough to attend last years week 3 match up against the Saints, an experience that I will never forget. I’ll make sure to snap several good photos and give a good analysis of what life is like as a Chiefs fan in the dome.