One thing we've learned about the Kansas City Chiefs offense and quarterback Alex Smith is that they like to spread the ball around.
So far this season, Dwayne Bowe leads the Chiefs with 39 receptions for 491 yards, but the ball has been spread around pretty evenly among the offensive skill position players.
Name | No. | Yards | % of overall receptions |
Dwayne Bowe | 39 | 491 | 21.4 |
Travis Kelce | 34 | 438 | 18.6 |
Anthony Fasano | 20 | 173 | 10.9 |
Jamaal Charles | 20 | 129 | 10.9 |
Donnie Avery | 14 | 156 | 7.6 |
Junior Hemingway | 11 | 104 | 6.0 |
Knile Davis | 10 | 57 | 5.4 |
On Sunday against the Bills, Bowe caught eight of the 17 completed passes from Smith on the day.
Over the entire season, Bowe has caught 21.4 percent of the team's overall receptions, but was by far the main target against the Bills with 47 percent.
Only three times this season has a Chiefs player had more than 10 targets in a game and Bowe has two of them (Buffalo, New York). The other player was Donnie Avery in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans (13).
Chiefs coach Andy Reid spoke about Bowe's production at his usual Monday press conference.
"Dwayne's a tough matchup for people because of his size and strength so we thought we could utilize that," Reid explained. "They were playing man coverage so we tried to take advantage. Alex (Smith) had another good game.
"[Alex] had a lot of tight throws and he was under some pressure. That's a good front [from Buffalo] so he hung in there. A lot of guys, again, they get their game thrown out of whack and you can't refocus to make those throws and I thought he did a nice job. He's got a lot of trust in Dwayne, especially in tight situations."
The Kansas City Chiefs visit the Buffalo Bills in week 10 of the 2014 season.
Bowe had catches of 12, 15 and 23 yards against the Bills. When the Chiefs offense needed a big play on Sunday, Bowe delivered.
The biggest catch of the day may have been early in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs faced a third-and-16 from midfield while the Chiefs trailed 13-3.
Bowe caught a pass along the sideline and was able to keep his feet in bounds, and that set up Jamaal Charles' 39-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-short, which may have been the play of the game.
That play wouldn't have been possible without Bowe's reception right before.
"When we need one we call it," Reid said of Bowe's ability to make plays. "I'm proud of him and the year he's having. We don't do a ton of deep stuff but he just gobbles everything up that's even near him and I know our quarterback appreciates that."
Bowe is 415 yards shy of becoming No. 2 all-time in Chiefs history in receiving yards.
With 415 yards, Bowe would pass Otis Taylor (7,306) but still would trail Tony Gonzalez (10,940) for the all-time lead.