What has happened to Alex Smith?
For years now, Smith has played scared. He has hurt his team by being too cautious. He has turned down open receivers downfield for safer throws. His preference for throwing short of the sticks on third down was so strong that Football Outsiders started tracking this stat and named it after Smith. Andy Reid even built his offense around this, incorporating more misdirection than any team in the league while using clearly defined short throws and screens to help put his receivers in position to create yards after the catch.