Anatomy of a Touchdown Week One: Alex Smith Goes Deep to Tyreek Hill

It’s a whole new season of Kansas City Chiefs football, and while there are some new players on the team this year, many of the faces remained the same. One budding bromance that just got started last year was the Alex Smith to Tyreek Hill connection. That quarterback/receiver combo continued into training camp, as we were treated to many tweets and stories from St. Joe about how Smith loved going deep to his speedy receiver.

But alas, if the past few seasons were any indication, the joys of training camp would stay in the summer months, and during the season we would be treated to the short pass game we have become so accustomed to.

That all came to a screeching halt last Thursday evening vs. the Pats.

With 9:28 left in the third quarter, and the Chiefs down 17-14 to the New England Patriots, the offense needed a big-time play to break the spirit of the Patriots and take the crowd out of the game.

After receiving a New England punt on the 40-yard line — and nearly losing the ball on a fumble — the Chiefs were penalized 15 yards when “Dirty” Dan Sorenson pulled a Patriots player off of the pile that ensued after the fumble. This put Alex and company on their own 25-yard line to begin the drive that would ultimately put them ahead in the game.

As Smith lined up his offense, they came out in a spread formation with twins right and left. Both Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill were lined up to the right with Hill just ahead of Kelce in a stack formation. Chris Conley and Albert Wilson mirrored the formation on the left side. Rookie running back sensation Kareem Hunt, the third rounder out of Toledo, was in the back field, just off of Smith’s hip.

The route patterns of each receiver is very simple, but it worked to perfection. The receivers who are off the line of scrimmage — Kelce and Wilson — both run a shallow crossing pattern. On the outside of the formation, Conley and Hill both run a modified flag route, heading about ten yards down field, then cutting to the sideline at a 45-degree angle. The end of their route is when they cut up field again. Finally, Hunt runs a check down route to the flat.

The defense attempted to disguise a cornerback blitz, by putting all of their defenders at the line of scrimmage and only keeping one safety deep.

As Smith snapped the ball, I found it extremely interesting that the deep safety, Duron Harmon, the fourth-year player out of Rutgers who has been with the Patriots for their latest two Super Bowl runs, started shifting to the right. He did it to cover for cornerback Eric Rowe who was blitzing off the edge. However, everyone on the field was well aware that Hill is the fastest player in football. The problem was, Harmon was in a… Catch-22 and wasn’t able to Catch 10. And that’s all it took.

As Alex looked downfield, Tyreek wasn’t exactly wide open. What I find really interesting about this play — even more interesting than the fact that Harmon cheated away from the cheetah — was that Smith threw this ball.  

Now let me stop there and tell you that I have always thought Smith capable of the deep ball. I have never been one of those sports bloggers who claimed he was “Captain Checkdown.” Instead, I have always said Smith’s lack of deep throwing repertoire was due to the talent around him.  That said, we just haven’t seen the playmaking ability of Smith on a regular basis. I would even go so far as to say that 2014 Alex Smith would have not even looked at Conley and Hill running deep, but would have been more likely to toss it to Hunt (labeled 1) or Wilson (labeled 2). If Smith was feeling really frisky, he might have tried to hit a semi-covered Kelce (labeled 3).

But this isn’t 2014, and this ain’t that Alex Smith. This is the all go, no quit, the-team-already-drafted-my-replacement Alex Smith. This is the Alex Smith that doesn’t have anything to lose. In re-watching this play at least 47 times as I wrote this piece, it doesn’t look like Smith even looks at Hunt, Wilson or Kelce. His eyes are continually downfield, waiting for his opportunity to strike.

As Smith winds up and let’s it fly, this is where everyone stands. At this point, I would say every receiver is open enough to through a pass to. Hunt and Wilson are “wide” open. Kelce is a close second. If Smith hit Conley perfectly, he could throw him open. However, Tyreek flying past his man, and safety Devin McCourty moving the wrong way is just to perfect to pass up.

What’s funny about this snapshot is Harmon realizing his mistake and looking back to where Smith is going with the play: into the open arms of Tyreek Hill.

I’ve seen some say they have seen these flashes from Smith in the past, but it didn’t last past a game or two. I have had the same thoughts, but something about this play — and this game — felt very different. This team feels different. 

This really could be the year. I’ll see you guys next week!

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