When doling out credit for the Kansas City Chiefs remarkable turnaround last season, quarterback Alex Smith thinks he should be at the front of the line to receive his praise. Draymond Green College Jersey . The Chiefs were a 2-14 team heading into the season last year when they brought in a new general manager, John Dorsey, head coach, Andy Reid, and of course starting quarterback, Smith. Kansas City wasnt void of talent before last year – the team had a surprising six players named to the Pro Bowl after their 2-14 season – but they needed change at the top positions to realize their full potential as a team. After finishing with an 11-5 record and making the playoffs last season, the new acquisitions deserve claim for their part in the turnaround, and in Smiths case, that comes in the form of a new contract. The 30-year-old Smith threw for 3,313 yards and 23 touchdowns to seven interceptions in his first year in Kansas City (eighth overall). Hes now entering the final year of his current contract which pays him $7.5 million per year and reportedly wants a bigger contract than the one given to Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler recently (seven years and $126 million). Smiths value is hard to gauge because he will never put up the gaudy numbers of the highest paid quarterbacks around the league, but produces similar results to the top earners. While theres no doubt running back Jamaal Charles is the teams best player, many around Kansas City would be okay with the assertion that Smith was the teams MVP. As pointed out by analysts this off-season, Smiths value is further clouded by the lack of a second-tier quarterback market. In terms of contracts at least, quarterbacks are either elite players earning big bucks, or unsolidified starters making far less. The Chiefs need to negotiate terms with Smith, who seems to fall in between the two categories. The problem could solve itself this year. If Smith leads the team on another playoff run hell almost certainly be able to claim hes joined the top tier at his position. And conversely if Kansas City takes a step back, Smith may have no choice but to accept lesser terms from the team. There is of course, always the franchise tag as well. Notes While Smith is waiting on his contract extension, Charles got a big one just ahead of the season. The Pro Bowl running back was given an extension that will pay him $18 million over the next two seasons, his age 27 and 28 years. The Chiefs lost left tackle Brandon Albert this off-season, but saw the move coming a year ago and should be prepared to deal with the loss. Last years first overall pick Eric Fisher struggled in his rookie campaign on the right side but a move to left tackle – typically the highest leverage position on the line – should help his fortunes moving forward. Fisher is a natural left tackle and will likely welcome a move back to the side of the line hes most comfortable on. Kansas City cut ties with longtime Chief Brandon Flowers this off-season, leaving a hole – and a competition – in the secondary. Flowers isnt quite what he used to be, but is still a solid cornerback and with no clear replacement on the roster, the move is risky. The Chiefs started the run on second-tier pass rushers (after Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack, and Anthony Barr) by selecting Auburn defensive end Dee Ford, who claimed he was the better pass rusher than Clowney, with their first round pick. Also intriguing picks included QB Aaron Murray, whose torn ACL dropped him to the fifth round, and Canadian tackle Laurent Duvernay-Tardiff in the sixth-round. The Chiefs were relatively quiet in free agency but did add three potential starters in guard Jeff Linkenbach, defensive tackle/end Vance Walker, and cornerback Chris Owens. Gary Harris College Jersey . For the Athletics, hes extremely important at the top of the order, especially with Coco Crisp hurting. Jaso drove in three runs Sunday night, helping Scott Kazmir and Oakland beat the Texas Rangers 9-3. Magic Johnson College Jersey . -- Isaiah Pead took a stutter step forward, then raced to the left sideline and travelled 60 yards up the field before finally getting tripped up by a leg tackle. http://www.cheapmichiganstatejerseys.com/ . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire.ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Blues went the distance, and then some, to get the jump on the defending Stanley Cup champions. Alexander Steen scored at 26 seconds of the third overtime to cap the longest playoff game in franchise history and give the Blues a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series on Thursday night. Steen beat Corey Crawford off a pair of short passes from Steve Ott and David Backes to end the marathon. Blues coach Ken Hitchcock greeted reporters for the postgame news conference with a hearty "Good morning." "Its big. We want to start this series off on a good note," Steen said. "Especially at home in front of our fans." Ryan Miller made 39 saves and blanked the Blackhawks after Patrick Kane scored on a breakaway to put Chicago up 3-2 late in the first period. Jaden Schwartz tied it with 1:45 to go in regulation to send the game into overtime. Alex Pietrangelo logged 44 minutes, 8 seconds of ice time. Two Blackhawks, Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson, played more than 40 minutes. Hitchcock called Miller "a difference-maker." "From the second period on, I thought he was great," Hitchcock said. "Both goalies were outstanding." Crawford made 48 saves for Chicago. The Blackhawks werent panicking. "I think the big thing for us is we have to realize its only one game and weve got a quick turnaround coming back," Kane said. "Thats the best part about it, we get right back at it. Game 2 is Saturday afternoon. "Weve got to move ahead," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "We knew it was going to be a tough series from the start. We almost got through it." The Blues previous longest overtime game was a 4-3 loss at Detroit in 1984 that extended 37 minutes, 7 seven seconds. The home record for a playoff overtime game was 33:49 of extra time in a 5-4 win over Chicago on April 20, 1989. St. Louis had to kill off delay-of-game penalties for shooting the puck into the stands in the first two overtimes and Quenneville argued vehemently for a second delay of game that would have given Chicago a 5-on-3 advantage in the first OT. The Blackhawks killed off a holding penalty in the second overtime. Michigan State Jerseys From China. Jonathan Toews, like Kane back from a lengthy injury absence, had two assists for Chicago. Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Adam Cracknell all scored their first playoff goal for the Blues. The Blackhawks kept the Blues pinned in their own zone for 2:10 during the first overtime, and Maxim Lapierre made the save of the session getting his body on a drive by Kris Versteeg with less than two minutes remaining. Tarasenko was among the best players coming off a 15-game absence because of a broken thumb. Cracknell tapped in a rebound early in the first to end a scoring drought of 148 minutes and 39 seconds for a team that got shut out the last two games of the regular season. Kane scored his 30th career playoff goal after catching the defence napping at the end of a St. Louis power play, beating Miller off a long lead pass from Toews for a 3-2 lead at 18:24 of the first. Miller allowed three goals on just seven shots in the first with defencemen Johnny Oduya and Brent Seabrook also scoring for Chicago. "They had a couple of nice shots in the first, but I had to come out and battle," Miller said. "Luckily I got ahold of a few of them." St. Louis top line of David Backes, Steen and Ott was a combined minus-5 in the first. Ott was a bit of surprise, considering he was minus-7 during the Blues six-game losing streak to end the regular season. Crawford faced just three shots in the second, but needed big saves to thwart Tarasenko and Ott. He made glove saves on drives by Steen and Tarasenko not long before Schwartz got the equalizer. NOTES: Blues defenceman Jay Bouwmeester, who has the longest consecutive game streak in major sports at 717 games, left in the first overtime and did not return. Hitchcock said Bouwmeester was dehydrated. ... Oduya and Seabrook combined for 10 goals in the regular season. Oduyas goal was first credited to Kris Versteeg on a deflection. ... St. Louis got most of its injured players back but key forward T.J. Oshie (head) and Patrik Burglund (shoulder) were scratches. ... Kane had two goals and four assists against St. Louis in the regular season and Toews had a goal and three assists. 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