The first week of the NFL season is in the books and that means it is time for the league to hand out their weekly awards for the top offensive, defensive and special teams performances in each conference.
It probably didn’t take much time to figure out which team the offensive winner in the AFC would come from as the Chiefs’ 42-27 win over the Patriots featured a pair of players worthy of consideration. There was quarterback Alex Smith, who threw for 368 yards and four touchdowns, and there was running back Kareem Hunt, who gained 246 yard and scored three times in his first NFL game.
Hunt will have to wait for his first NFL honor. The league announced that Smith was the choice for Week One.
Smith was 28-of-35 overall while leading the Chiefs to a win in the first game of the season. Smith was previously named the NFC offensive player of the week in Week Eight of the 2012 season, but suffered a concussion the next week and spent the rest of the season watching Colin Kaepernick run the 49ers offense.
With Patrick Mahomes waiting in the wings, Smith will hope the only lightning that strikes twice is the kind he was slinging around in New England last Thursday.