Kansas City is going to throw a touchdown pass to a wide receiver at some point. Right?
We’re three quarters of the way through the season. Alex Smith has thrown 15 touchdowns. None of them have gone to wide receivers.
I decided to check into the numbers some. Since 1990 (so a 25-season sample) only one team finished with as few as 2 TDs to wide receivers. Those were the 2004 Giants, with Kurt Warner and rookie Eli Manning handling the quarterbacking. They threw 12 TDs, and only 2 went to wide receivers.
Four other teams managed to finish with just 3, most recently the 2012 Dolphins.
One other team this year, Seattle, is sitting at just 5 TDs to wide receivers.
Kansas City has only four games left. It’s playing at Arizona this week, which is unusually good at cornerback. That long-awaited touchdown to a wide receiver will probably show up in one of their following two games, against Oakland or Pittsburgh.
I would think Alex Smith is getting tired of hearing about this, making him more likely to try to squeeze a ball in to a wide receiver in the end zone sometime soon.
| FEWER THAN 6 TOUCHDOWNS BY WIDE RECEIVERS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | WR | Tot |
| 2014 | Kansas City | 0 | 15 |
| 2004 | NY Giants | 2 | 12 |
| 2004 | Chicago | 3 | 9 |
| 2000 | Cleveland | 3 | 9 |
| 1992 | Indianapolis | 3 | 13 |
| 2012 | Miami | 3 | 13 |
| 2001 | Carolina | 4 | 12 |
| 2000 | Dallas | 4 | 14 |
| 2006 | Oakland | 4 | 7 |
| 1999 | San Diego | 4 | 12 |
| 1995 | Tampa Bay | 4 | 5 |
| 1996 | Tampa Bay | 4 | 12 |
| 2001 | Tampa Bay | 4 | 13 |
| 2000 | Cincinnati | 5 | 6 |
| 2008 | Cleveland | 5 | 11 |
| 2009 | Cleveland | 5 | 11 |
| 1996 | Dallas | 5 | 12 |
| 2003 | Denver | 5 | 19 |
| 2012 | Kansas City | 5 | 8 |
| 2008 | Miami | 5 | 20 |
| 1993 | NY Jets | 5 | 16 |
| 1998 | Philadelphia | 5 | 7 |
| 2003 | Philadelphia | 5 | 17 |
| 1992 | Seattle | 5 | 9 |
| 2014 | Seattle | 5 | 15 |
| 1991 | St. Louis | 5 | 13 |
—Ian Allan