For much of his career, Kansas City Chiefs veteran quarterback Alex Smith has heard the label of being a game manager tossed around his style of play.

Smith looked like anything but a game manager against the New England Patriots on Thursday night by leading the Chiefs to a surprising 42-27 road win by completing 28 of 35 passes for 368 yards and a career-high with four touchdown passes while holding a 148.6 passer rating.

Following his impressive performance, Smith didn't use it as a chance to push back at the game manager label but instead brushed it aside, according to Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star.

Afterward, Smith was offered a chance to crow about this game and about the longtime perception of him as a mere game manager and what it might say that he did this with all the drama over Mahomes in the offseason.

Instead, Smith just smiled.

“You know, if you’d asked me that seven or eight years ago, you’d probably get what you’re looking for there,” he said. “I really don’t care (about what people say).”

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Granted a pair of those touchdowns came on long receptions, the 33-year-old looked quite sharp against the Patriots. He showed reason to believe that he has plenty left in the tank to be an effective quarterback for the Chiefs who can lead them to another playoff appearance with a chance to vie for the Super Bowl.

The writing has quietly been on the wall that Smith's tenure with the team may be becoming closer to the end after the team selected former Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes with the 10th overall pick in this year's draft. This has put his eventual replacement in place once the Kansas City believes it is time to go in another direction.

However, if he's able to continue to lead the Chiefs much success this season that chatter will be quieted for the time being. All of this will depend on his play this season that will ultimately determine how much longer Kansas City will ride with him as the starting quarterback.