The AFC West has become the NFL's best division in 2016. Three of the division's four teams sit at 7-3 or better.One team, the division-leading Oakland Raiders, features one of the league's best offenses and a potential MVP candidate in quarterback Derek Carr.Another team, the Denver Broncos, is the defending world champion. They possess arguably the NFL's best defense and a Defensive Player of the Year contender in outside linebacker Von Miller.Then there are the Kansas City Chiefsa team that does many things well but nothing especially well. They don't have Oakland's high-powered offense. They don't have Denver's punishing defense.And if quarterback Alex Smith doesn't ratchet up his game in a hurry ahead of Sunday's showdown with the Broncos in Denver, the Chiefs aren't going to have much of a shot at winning the division or making any real noise in the AFC playoffs in 2016.At first glance, Smith's numbers last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers don't look bad at all. Smith completed over 75 percent of his passes. His yardage total on the afternoon was his third-highest of the season. And Smith's passer rating checked in at just under 100.However, upon further examination, any shine from Smith's afternoon quickly wears off.Yes, Smith posted his third-best game of the season yardagewiseat all of 261 yards. It was also just the third time he's topped 250 passing yards in a game. For the sixth time in nine games, Smith threw fewer than two touchdown passes.And most importantly, the Chiefs lost to the Buccaneersat Arrowhead, no less.At this point, some will no doubt point out that it's not solely Smith's fault that the Chiefs lost to Tampa. They will also point out that the Chiefs are 7-3 and still very much in the hunt in the division. And they will say that while Smith's numbers are down in some categories relative to last year, they are up in others.Those are all valid points. And head coach Andy Reid didn't sound at all concerned about his quarterback while speaking with Adam Teicher of ESPN.com:I think Alex is OK. Hes going to be fine. Weve just got to keep going here. He does a great job with leadership and all of those things. Hell be fine. Weve had a couple of weeks here when weve been in a little bit of a slump and weve got to pull out of it and get better. Thats all of us.If Reid wants more than the participation trophy the Chiefs got for last year's short postseason visit, he'd better get concerned, because 2016 is shaping up as a sequel to 2015one of those sequels that isn't as good as the original.From a yardage standpoint, the Kansas City offense is in a nearly identical spot compared to last season. The passing offense is up slightly, but only becausea Chiefs run game that ranked sixth in the NFL last year has fallen from the top 20 withoutJamaal Charleson the field.That lack of a run game has put more onus on Smith than ever to help shoulder the offensive load for the Chiefs. And the results have not been encouraging.Per Teicher, the Chiefs have scored two or fewer touchdowns in six of the eight full games Smith has played this season. He ranks 26th among NFL quarterbacks in passer rating on third down. The Chiefs are next-to-last in the NFL in red-zone touchdown percentage. And their scoring is down over a field goal per game.These are not the kind of numbers that give one the warm and fuzziesespecially when you look at the Chiefs' schedule the rest of the way.Based on opponents' record so far this season, only the Carolina Panthers have a more difficult schedule the rest of the season than the Chiefs. Their Week 12 trip to Denver kicks off a murderous three-week stretch that will also see them head to Atlanta and host the surging Raiders.Smith himself allowed to Teicher that he needs to pick up his game: "I think those things only become more magnified, I guess. I think they become more important as the games get bigger and bigger. No question. Yeah, theyre huge. Thats something that we do put a lot of focus on [and] we work hard at."The thing is, we've seen nothing to indicate some big turnaround is coming, nothing that would lead us to believe that marked improvement is just around the corner.What we have seen is seemingly every criticism of Smith borne outthat he's a good NFL quarterback, but not a great one; that he's been propped up in Kansas City by a strong run game and punishing defense; that he isn't good enough to carry an offense.And in 2016, with that ground game not as strong and the defense not as stifling, Smith's limitations are becoming more evident than ever.This may all seem awfully critical of a team that's 7-3, a team that won 11 games last year, including a staggering 10 straight after a 1-5 start. With a win in Denver Sunday, the Chiefs will be in the driver's seat for a wild-card spot in the AFC and remain nipping at the Raiders' heels in the West.But as I said, that sequel sounds a lot like last year's story: a second-place Chiefs team that was good enough to make the postseason tournament but not good enough to do much once they got there.In that respect, maybe the team truly is reflected in their quarterback. Maybe these really are Alex Smith's Chiefs.A good team.But not a great one.Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.
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