KC Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith completed 7-of-16 passes in Friday's 15-13 preseason loss to the San Francisco 49ers. This is a big difference from what we saw last week where he completed 7-of-8 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown against the New Orleans Saints.
So what happened tonight?
"Different team we were playing," Alex said when asked about the difference between last week and this week. "We didn't get into the rhythm we did last week. It was nice to get some first downs on the first drive last week and get into a rhythm right away. We didn't really get into that rhythm this week for a lot of reasons. I think we certainly left a lot out there, a lot of easy, fixable things."
Obviously 7-of-16 passing is not ideal.
"Not very efficient in the passing game," Alex said. "We left a lot out there I think. Didn't handle the pressure as well and I think some finer details here and there, just didn't connect on some of them."
Smith said that protection was "some" of the problem.
"That falls on all of us," he said. "There were a few times when they were bringing more than we got and the ball's gotta come out and we have to execute. A few communication things out front we have to get ironed out."
The 49ers first team defense played very little in the first half. Alex and the Chiefs first team offense was going against the 49ers second team defense for much of the night. Asked whether he expected to do more against their backups, Alex said that he expected to do more against their starters, too.
"You want to move the ball and put some points on the board," Alex said. "A little frustrating. We'll look at the film but it's a lot of different reasons. Seems like every time we got a first down it sputtered out and we couldn't execute on third down."
Ah, third downs. The Chiefs nemesis in recent years. One way to solve that is to consistently find your receivers, something Alex Smith did not do. Dwayne Bowe and Jon Baldwin were both targeted this game, which is more than last week, but neither caught a pass.
"For one," Alex said when asked about Bowe, "he's getting a lot of attention out there. One drive last week and we had more time this week. There were certainly a couple of opportunities, one in my head I wish I had back. But for me you're looking at coverages, which are dictating where I'm throwing the football. He's a guy that demands a lot of respect out there and he's getting it."