For over a century, professional sports in North America consisted of play the game and either you win or you lose. The outcome and the aftermath were just that simple; win or lose. In the modern era, ESPN has become a multi-channel, multimedia, 24/7 operation of sports production and promotion offering predictions, analysis and recaps. “The mothership” has created an industry of copy cat networks as well. Analytics have changed the game, and taken that was once known, and has divided it up and created layers within the outcome. It is not just win or lose, it’s how you win or lose based on the idea of what is the “better” way of reaching that outcome.
“You play to win the game!” – Herm Edwards
Enter Alex Smith.
A first overall draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 2005 out of Utah, Smith became a disappointment year after year early in his career with most doubting his future in the league as a starting quarterback. However, in 2011 after John Harbaugh was hired as the new coach of the 49ers, the mood around the team and Smith began to change. The team finished with a 13-3 record and were off to the playoffs. In one of the best football games I have ever watched and with two go-ahead touchdown drives of 80 and 85 yards in the final three minutes, the 49ers defeated the New Orleans Saints and Drew Brees to book their ticket into the NFC Championship game. It was a game they ultimately lost 20-17 in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants. Alex Smith had taken his team into overtime of the NFC Championship, literally as close as you can come to a Super Bowl appearance without actually making it.
Smith entered the 2012 season with the highly rated 49ers looking to grow upon the success of the previous season. Unfortunately, midway through the season he went down to injury and after getting a clean bill of health, never got his starting job back. At the time of the injury, he was completing 70% of his passes and had the third best QB rating in the league at 104.1. I’m not arguing against the decision to sit Smith over Colin Kaepernick, as Kaepernick went on to have even better stats, but it is a bit of a rarity in sports to see someone perform at such a high level and still lose their job.
In 2013, now with the Kansas City Chiefs, it has been more of the same for Alex Smith. They have come out of the gate with a league best 8-0 record and are currently the only undefeated team in the league.
The knock on Smith has been that he is a game manager type quarterback. Somehow, this has become something to avoid? Anybody who follows football would agree that Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady are all in the top-5 quarterbacks of the league. Let’s compare some of their stats since the 2009 season.
Since 2009
| Player |
Games Played |
Touchdowns |
Interceptions |
TD/INT Ratio |
QB Rating |
| Alex Smith |
56 |
71 |
36 |
1.97 |
88.1 |
| Tom Brady |
72 |
146 |
43 |
3.4 |
97.28 |
| Aaron Rodgers |
69 |
157 |
36 |
4.36 |
108.58 |
| Drew Brees |
70 |
175 |
71 |
2.46 |
103.32 |
Since 2011
| Player |
Games Played |
Touchdowns |
Interceptions |
TD/INT Ratio |
QB Rating |
| Alex Smith |
34 |
39 |
14 |
2.79 |
92.3 |
| Tom Brady |
40 |
82 |
26 |
3.15 |
93.07 |
| Aaron Rodgers |
38 |
99 |
18 |
5.5 |
112.83 |
| Drew Brees |
39 |
108 |
38 |
2.84 |
105.36 |
Now it goes without saying that the stats of the best quarterbacks in the league are going to be better than Alex Smith, I’m simply not arguing he is a top-5 quarterback in the league. And context should also be given to the amount of games that have been played among these quarterbacks. Had Alex Smith played in the same amount of games as the others, his stats would still be less in areas; however the gap would be smaller. We can see that the Alex Smith since 2011 is quite improved over the Alex Smith since 2009. He is averaging almost three touchdowns for every interception he throws, on par with Drew Brees. Alex Smith may have a third of the touchdowns that Brees has, however he also has a third of his interceptions. Smith has a quarterback rating of 92.3 which is just slightly behind Tom Brady over that same time frame.
Winning Percentage Since 2011
| Player |
Win |
Loss |
Tie |
Win % |
| Alex Smith |
27 |
5 |
1 |
82 |
| Tom Brady |
31 |
9 |
0 |
77.5 |
| Aaron Rodgers |
30 |
8 |
0 |
79 |
| Drew Brees |
26 |
13 |
0 |
67 |
In the past three seasons, Alex Smith has a better winning percentage than the best quarterbacks in the league. Let that soak in, in a sport where winning means everything and when compared to the people who are the best at what they do, Alex Smith has a better winning percentage than the best of the best.
If we begin an exercise in futility of listing two quarterbacks and asking which one would you prefer, this is a process that does not serve Alex Smith well. And I’m beginning to wonder if this is what drives much of the messaging against him. It will be said that he doesn’t throw the ball down field very much, but we could put Peyton Manning and Tom Brady both into that category now. Go look up Tom Brady’s stats as of late on passes of more than 20 yards – it’s not pretty.
Is Alex Smith going to win a Super Bowl? I don’t know, nobody does. But I object to the notion that he is dismissed from the conversation due to the fact that he is a game manager. You play to win the game. Alex Smith plays. Alex Smith wins.
He deserves better.
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