Alex Smith Takes Off For Opening Chiefs Touchdown vs. Broncos (Video)

Alex Smith called his own number in the red zone and trotted easily into the end zone for an early Kansas City Chiefs touchdown.

In the first meeting between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, it was a defensive battle early on that devolved into a shootout in the second half and overtime. However, things started out much differently on Christmas Day in Week 16. After the Broncos did come up empty, the Chiefs had other plans in a game where they needed a big win.

Tyreek Hill put Kansas City in a great position with a predictably great return and then two nice runs after. Ultimately, the Chiefs wound up deep in the red zone and the Broncos had to be looking for Smith to keep throwing the ball with the way that his weapons like Hill stepped up. Instead, the quarterback had another number to dial up: his own.

Smith faked the handoff to Spencer Ware on the read-option and then pulled the ball back into his own hip-pocket. The Broncos in the middle of the field bit hard on the fake and Smith had room to work. An underrated runner, the KC quarterback had no trouble getting the edge, following a pair of great blocks, and trotting into the end zone for the opening score of the holiday matchup:

There’s no doubt that Smith is one of the more maligned quarterbacks in the league. Yet, it’s hard to argue with their 10-4 record coming into Week 16 and the success overall that they’ve had with Smith.

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And when he’s capable of switching up the quick-pass game with a play like this, it’s hard to really hate on the Chiefs signal-caller all too much at all.