The distance from Helix High School in La Mesa, California to Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego is a little more than 8 miles.
For Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, a Helix Highlander alum, the journey to connect these two places has been a little bit longer than the 10-minute drive down Interstate 8.
"Some of my earliest memories of football are at this stadium," Smith noted after Sunday's 33-3 convincing win over the Chargers. "Coming and watching the Chargers play, watching San Diego State play here, I distinctly remember it—running around the stadium, watching football.
"Those are things you'll never forget."
Smith won't soon forget this game either.
The Chiefs thoroughly dominated the Chargers in every facet of the game, picking up their fourth straight win in the process.
From his teenage years to his time at the University of Utah, Smith has always been able to return to the city that developed his love for football.
"I'm fortunate in that I've gotten to play [at Qualcomm] at every level," Smith said. "I played here in high school, played here in college and now in the pros.
"It's fun to come back."
Smith had plenty of fun on Sunday as he put together one of his best performances in a Chiefs uniform, completing 20 of 25 passes for 253 yards.
The 10.1 yards per attempt is his best output since the Oakland Raiders game back in 2013 (14.35 YPA).
He completed passes to 8 different players and the offense as a whole had seven plays of 20 yards or more.
Led by Smith, they were clicking on all cylinders.
"I felt really prepared for anything we could get," Smith explained after the game. "I think it's a matter of everybody being on the same page. It's a credit to everyone, guys up front doing a great job battling and then guys outside seeing it the same way I'm seeing it and got us all on the same page."
It's been seven games since Smith has thrown an interception, spanning 253 consecutive passes, which is not only the longest streak for any quarterback in the NFL this season—it's also now a franchise record.
With his 47-yard hookup to running back Charcandrick West on a little circle route out of the backfield midway through the first quarter, Smith passed Steve DeBerg (233) for the most consecutive passes without an interception—a record that stood for more than 25 years.
"You never want to go out there and play to not throw an interception," he said after the game. "You're out there to score points and move the chains and execute the offense. I felt like we've been doing that the last few weeks. I think when you're doing things right and everybody's on the same page on the little things, it's really a credit to that.
"It's really a result of those things."
Over the past four games, the Chiefs have forced 12 turnovers and haven't given it away one time.
If you're looking for reasons for the recent dominance, that's a good place to start.
Postgame Facts and Stats from the Chiefs win over the Chargers in Week 11
DEFENSE HOLDS CHARGERS TO SEASON LOW: The Chiefs defense held the Chargers to 201 total yards today in Qualcomm Stadium, the lowest total yardage output of the season for San Diego. QB Philip Rivers also threw for just 178 yards, another season-low performance. The previous low this season for the Chargers was 339 total yards against Chicago (Nov. 8) while Rivers' lowest total was 241 passing yards at Cincinnati (Sept. 20). It marks the 12th time in series history that the Chiefs have held the Chargers to 201 or fewer offensive yards, with the Chiefs owning a 9-2-1 (.792) record in those contests.
DEFENSE HOLDS CHARGERS: The Chargers average starting field position was the 15.4-yard line. The Chiefs defense did not allow the Chargers inside the red zone once today and the closest they got was the Chiefs 34-yard line where they settled for a 52-yard field goal. P Dustin Colquitt landed four of his five punts inside the 20-yard line. He finished the day with five punts for 203 yards (40.6 avg./40.6 net).
DEFENSE RECORDS FIFTH STRAIGHT GAME WITH INT: The Kansas City defense has recorded at least one interception in each of the last five games, putting them in a tie for the second-longest active interception streak in the NFL. Today marks the 41st time in franchise history the club has strung together at least five games recording at least one interception.
DEFENSE HOLDS CHARGERS TO THREE: The Chiefs defense held San Diego's offense to three points in today's game, marking a season low for the Chargers offense. The last time they were held to three or fewer points was on Nov. 2, 2014 when they lost 37-0 to Miami. It marks the eighth time that the Chiefs have held the Chargers to three or fewer points in a game in franchise history. The Chiefs last accomplished the feat on Oct. 31, 1999 at Arrowhead Stadium, beating the Chargers 34-0. The Chiefs are 8-0 in all-time in such contests.
MARGIN OF VICTORY: Today's 30-point margin of victory marks the fifth-largest against the Chargers in franchise history, and is the third largest margin of victory at San Diego. It is the highest margin in San Diego since the Chiefs beat San Diego 40-3 (+37) on Dec. 8, 1968. It marks the largest win against the Chargers since a 42-10 win (+32) on Sept. 17, 2000 at Arrowhead Stadium.
HOLDING THE OPPONENT TO 18 OR LESS: This marks the sixth-consecutive game where the Chiefs defense held its opponents to 18 or fewer points. In that span, the Chiefs own a +84 differential (157 scored vs. 73 allowed). In the last six games, the Chiefs defense held its opponents to an average of 12.2 points per game (73 total).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: With two takeaways in today's game, the Chiefs extend their turnover differential to +10. Entering today's game, the Chiefs ranked tied for second with a plus-8 turnover differential, trailing only the New York Giants (+13).
HALI MOVES INTO TOP 50 ALL TIME: LB Tamba Hali sacked QB Philip Rivers twice for a loss of 20 yards. Hali now owns 85.0 career sacks and moves into the top 50 for most sacks in NFL history (T-49th with DE Osi Umenyiora). Among active players, Hali ranks 10th in total sacks. Hali has sacked QB Philip Rivers 13.5 times in his career, the most against a single player in his career. Hali has 13.5 sacks against the Chargers as well, most of any team he's faced in his career. With 2.0 sacks in today's contest, LB Tamba Hali moves into second place in franchise history with 20 multi-sack performances, trailing only Pro Football Hall of Fame LB Derrick Thomas, who had 27. His 85.0 career sacks inches him closer to taking over second place in franchise history, needing just 2.0 more sacks to pass DE Neil Smith's total of 86.5 sacks.
SMITH'S STREAK MARKS FRANCHISE BEST: QB Alex Smith hit RB Charcandrick West in stride with a 47-yard completion, marking his 234th consecutive pass without an interception, the longest such streak by a QB in franchise history. He has extended his streak to 253 consecutive pass attempts without throwing an INT. Smith has thrown seven TDs in that stretch. His streak is the longest active streak in the NFL this season. Smith finished the game completing 20 of his 25 passes for 253 yards and two TDs, good for a 108.8 passer rating. It marks his third 100.0+ passer rating game of the season and the 23rd time in his career he has logged a 100.0 or better rating as a starter in the regular season with 20 or more pass attempts. He is 22-1 in those contests.
POE SCORES ON OFFENSE: DT Dontari Poe scored his first NFL touchdown on a one-yard leap into the end zone on 4th-and-1. Poe's TD marks the first defensive player to score a touchdown on offense since CB Javier Arenas ran in a 7-yard score at Oakland on Oct. 23, 2011. He also is the first defensive player in the NFL to score an offensive touchdown this season. There have been at least eight offensive touchdowns scored by Chiefs defensive position players since the 1970 merger.
MAUGA SACKS RIVERS: LB Josh Mauga recorded his first sack this season on a nine-yard loss in the first quarter. Mauga owns 1.5 career sacks. He finished the day with seven tackles (six solo).
HARRIS LOGS CAREER-LONG CATCH: TE Demetrius Harris caught a 25-yard pass from QB Alex Smith on third down to mark his career-long. He had two catches for 26 yards in today's game.
HOUSTON SCORES FIRST TD: LB Justin Houston logged his second INT of the season and ran it in for a 17-yard score, marking the first defensive touchdown of his career. He added one solo tackle on the day.
FLEMING RECOVERS MUFFED PUNT: CB Jamell Fleming recovered a muffed punt by WR Javontee Herndon to give the Chiefs the ball at the SD 44-yard line.
WARE STEPS UP: FB/RB Spencer Ware stepped in for an injured RB Charcandrick West and recorded a 52-yard rush, which is a career long mark, en route to scoring his second TD this season later in the drive. Ware led all rushers today recording 11 carries for 96 yards and two touchdowns. Ware's last two rushing TD game was Oct. 8, 2011 against the University of Florida when Ware was at LSU.
MACLIN RETURNS TO RETURN GAME: WR Jeremy Maclin recorded his first punt returns this season, recording two returns for 13 yards. Maclin added four catches for 56 yards in the game.
DJ LEADS DEFENSE: LB Derrick Johnson led the defense, recording nine tackles (eight solo) and one pass defensed.
On Sunday, the Chiefs defense held the NFL's fourth-ranked offense, which came into the game averaging 414 yards per game, to just 201.
"Any time you're holding an offense like that—a quarterback like that, to 3 points, it's pretty good to say the least," Smith said of the defense. "It's made our job easy. We had great field position all game. [The defense has] been on a roll these last few weeks and it just keeps going.
"I thought we did some good things on offense. I thought we got a lot of people incorporated, mixing it around, finding matchups we liked and guys were making plays."
One of the guys who made plays* was* Smith, who got one more opportunity to shine in a stadium that quite literally helped develop his love for football, and it's uncertain how many more opportunities he'll get to do that.
