New Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, shown throwing a pass against the Dallas Cowboys at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, already has helped the 2-0 Chiefs match their win total from last year. ED ZURGA / Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Alex Smith is still winning in red. He's just doing it for the Chiefs these days.
Mike Wallace is finally happy in Miami, Anquan Boldin is making everyone happy in San Francisco, and that's just the start of the new faces in new places making a splash this season.
Wes Welker went from hauling in passes from Tom Brady in New England to doing the same from Peyton Manning in Denver - how'd he get so lucky? Steven Jackson is in Atlanta, Darrelle Revis is defending passes in Tampa Bay and Elvis Dumervil is putting heat on quarterbacks for Baltimore after a bizarre end to his time with the Broncos.
"I feel amazing," said Dumervil, who actually agreed to a restructured contract to remain in the AFC West, only for the paperwork to arrive late at the league office. Denver was forced to release Dumervil to avoid having the $12 million he was set to make this season become guaranteed.
Dumervil still considered staying in Denver but ultimately signed with the Ravens.
"It's always nice to get a guy in there who can bring new ideas to you and new ways of doing things and Elvis has certainly done that," Baltimore coach John Harbaugh said. "He's latched on with the things we're doing, and it's been a great mesh."
It's been a happy marriage for a lot of other high-profile players, too.
After Smith was benched in favor of Colin Kaepernick during San Francisco's NFC championship run last year, he began looking elsewhere to play this season. The 49ers worked a trade in February to send him to Kansas City, and now Smith is running the offense for new coach Andy Reid.
He's doing it well, too. Smith has thrown four touchdown passes without an interception in beating Jacksonville and Dallas, matching the Chiefs' entire win total from last season.
"From about mid-season last year I was thinking about where my next opportunity was potentially going to come," Smith said, "and when this presented itself, I jumped at it."
He wasn't alone in jumping on the Chiefs bandwagon.
Reid climbed aboard after 14 seasons leading the Eagles, and veteran defensive backs Sean Smith and Dunta Robinson were signed in free agency. Together, they've helped turn around a franchise that heads to Philadelphia on Thursday night.
Original Print Headline: New faces, new places mark new NFL season
Pro Football (NFL)
Browns third-string quarterback Brian Hoyer will start Sunday against Minnesota in place of Brandon Weeden, who sprained his right thumb last week.
The NFL expects the most expensive tickets for the Super Bowl to be about $2,600 each for 9,000 premium seats for the Feb. 2 game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
