Contrasting styles

Chiefs’ Smith, Redskins’ Cousins far different quarterbacks

Just about the only things Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith and Redskins counterpart Kirk Cousins have in common heading into their showdown tonight have been the results.

Smith has the Chiefs flying high at 3-0. Cousins has the Redskins off to a 2-1 start.

How they’ve reached this point has been vastly different.

Start with the Chiefs’ consummate game manager, a West Coast kid who played at a then-mid-major school in Utah and came into the NFL with a dualthreat reputation. He was hailed as the saviour of the San Francisco 49ers, the first overall pick who was supposed to achieve NFL greatness.

Then consider the Redskins’ triggerman, a kid from the Upper Midwest who starred for Michigan State in the Big Ten and was drafted for his big arm. He was almost an after-thought when he was picked by Washington in the fourth round, the insurance policy for No. 2 overall pick Robert Griffin III.

Now, look at the way they go about their business.

Smith completes a ridiculous number of passes, at least 75 per cent in each game this season, and has yet to throw an interception. His quarterback rating has eclipsed 100.0 in each game, highlighted by a 28-for-35 performance with 368 yards and four touchdowns in a seasonopening win at New England.

He’s steady, never too high or too low. An even keel if ever there was one.

“He’s obviously having a great year. His quarterback rating and all those statistics speak for themselves,” Redskins coach Jay Gruden said.

“But the record, 3-0, off to a great start. He gets the ball to his playmakers and lets them do the work for him.”

Sounds like the essence of a game manager.

“I just see a guy that’s played a lot of football, man. I’ve always thought a lot of Alex,” Gruden said. “He probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves. He’s won a lot of games.”

Deserved or not, Cousins has gotten plenty of credit over the years.

One of the primary reasons is his ability to put up gaudy numbers any given week, regardless who his playmakers might be. His big arm was on display just last week, when he went 25 of 30 for 365 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 27-10 rout of the Raiders.

But unlike Smith, the more volatile Cousins is prone to monumental swings in performance. His game against the Chiefs’ primary rival came two weeks after a 23-for-40 outing against Philadelphia, when he threw for 240 yards with a touchdown and a pick while getting sacked four times.

The sum of those efforts tends to be pretty good, though: nearly 5,000 yards passing last season. And that’s why Cousins has been in line for a big pay day the last couple of years.

“A guy I think these last years has played at a really high level,” Chiefs defensive co-ordinator Bob Sutton said. “When you have a guy like that, it gives you a chance, every single week.”

Assuming he shows up, of course.