Anatomy of a Touchdown Week One: Alex Smith to Jeremy Maclin
We can talk about the most exciting comeback in Kansas City Chiefs’ history until we’re blue in the face. We can discuss the touchdown that won the game, as quarterback Alex Smith dove into the end zone from two yards out to put the stamp on his career day. We can talk about all of those things. But before Smith completed the most improbable of comebacks, before he even handed off the ball to running back Spencer Ware to tie the game with just over a minute to go, Smith threw one of the best touchdown passes of his career to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.
Why was it one of the best? It wasn’t a 60-yard bomb that dropped perfectly into Maclin’s hands. It wasn’t a pass that threaded the needle between defenders in triple coverage. It wasn’t even done under duress while Smith was running for his life. So why do I think this was one of the best? Because of the timing. Because of the “must score here” mentality, and the fact that there was absolutely no separation between Maclin and cornerback Jason Verrett who was defending him on the play.
Let’s jump into it, shall we?
With 9:33 left in the fourth quarter and still down by 17 points, Smith lined his offense into a standard four-wide receiver set. Second-year receiver Chris Conley was split out wide to the right with the diminutive Albert Wilson playing in the slot. Tight end Demetrius Harris was lined up tight against the right tackle, Mitchell Schwartz. On the left side of the formation, Maclin was the lone receiver, isolating one-on-one coverage against Verrett. Ware rounded out the formation in the backfield, to the left of Smith, likely as a personal protector or a check down.
On the opposite side of the ball, the defense was in a single-high safety set with a nickel back to defend against the extra receiver. While Verrett was playing very tight on the line of scrimmage against Maclin, the right side of the line was giving a bit of cushion to Conley and Wilson.
While most every play is designed to do something, this play was designed to score a touchdown. It was a perfectly called play in the perfect situation and Smith read the defense…well…perfectly.
On the right side of the formation, Conley and Wilson ran fly routes. Had they gotten open, the could have been potential recipients of the pass. As it was, they served the purpose of clearing out the defenders from the right side of the field. It appeared that Smith’s first read was Harris who looked to be running a very lazy post route. Ultimately the former basketball player served one purpose: to draw the single high safety–the “headhunter” himself, Jahleel Addae–just enough away from Maclin that he would be no help.
In looking at this still, it’s easy to see just how out of position Addae was on this play. He was playing entirely too deep to be any real help to anyone unless Smith had tried to fit the ball to Harris. Smith read this perfectly and knew he had the matchup he wanted, which was Maclin one-on-one with Verrett.
The most interesting thing about this play is where Maclin is, in relation to Verrett and the end zone, when Smith releases the ball. This is not your “typical Alex Smith throw.” That very idea is one I hope we’ll completely discard this season.
As the ball leaves Smith’s hand, look at where Maclin was. He was still fourteen yards from the end zone and Verrett is in his hip pocket. It’s not one of the “safe” or “wide-open” throws we’re used to seeing from the Chiefs’ signal caller. It was a very dangerous toss at a time when the Chiefs could not afford a single mistake if they had any hope of making their opening day fantasy come true.
As the ball approached No. 19, Maclin used the sixth sense he seems to have and turned to look for the ball. Verrett had no idea it was coming his way. Why would he? I’m sure all of his hours of film study on Alex Smith had shown him he never makes throws when the coverage is this tight. But this isn’t your dad’s Alex Smith.
While I give a huge amount of credit to Smith on this throw — and it’s due because let’s be honest, it was a hell of a throw — Maclin gets some too. Catching a back shoulder throw like this is tough, especially when you’re running full speed nearly 20 yards down the field. Combine that with the fact that at the last minute, Verrett got wise to the fact that the ball was coming in and put his hand up to try to deflect it, and it was one hell of a catch.
Perhaps by design, or just unintended consequence, Maclin’s momentum carried him into the end zone after he secured the catch. While I thought he may have hit the ground prior to making it into the end zone, you can see the side judge standing right at the pylon with a perfect view of Maclin scoring six.
This isn’t a throw Smith makes very often. I’ve been watching him for quite some time, and I think I’ve only seen him make this caliber of throw three or four other times in his career. With tight coverage and the accuracy required to make this throw, it’s just not in his comfort zone.
Perhaps that’s what makes this touchdown so impressive to me. As I said at the beginning of the piece, it wasn’t the one that tied or even won the game, but it was the spark this team needed. I remember thinking as it happened that it was the turning point. I knew the Chiefs were going to win the game as soon as Maclin crossed the end zone. I had no reason to think that — other than a gut feeling — but seeing your quarterback make these kinds of throws will give you that feeling. I remember thinking “this must be what it’s like to have a game changer instead of a game manager at quarterback.”
That said, let’s watch this touchdown on a loop and bask in the glory that is Alex Smith!
