Through the first month of the regular season, Kansas City Chiefs fans are concerned about the performance of veteran kicker Harrison Butker. The 30-year-old Butker has only made 76.9% of his field goals (10-of-13), which would be the second-worst mark of his career, and 77.8% of his extra points (7-of-9).
In the team's Week 4 win over the Baltimore Ravens, Butker was a perfect 4-for-4 on his extra points, but only 3-for-4 on field goals. He missed a 56-yard field goal wide left late in the first half, which didn’t come back to haunt Kansas City.
However, this is becoming a troubling trend with Butker, and Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub is finally realizing it himself. At the same time, Toub isn’t ready to give up on the vet just yet.
"We're going to keep working... obviously, we don't like misses. We're going to keep working to see if we can get more consistency. In a little bit of a struggle right now, everybody can see it, but we're going to keep working,” Toub said, via Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports.
Chiefs Notice Harrison Butker’s Struggles but Not Willing to Give Up Yet
If this were any other kicker not named Butker, the Chiefs might be willing to part ways with said player. However, based on Butker’s history with the team and his past performances, the coaching staff is willing to work through his kicking woes.
Ahead of last week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens, Toub was asked about the difference between kicking for distance and accuracy, specifically regarding Butker. Toub’s answer left fans puzzled as he said they kick a lot of long kicks in practice, but will switch it up by kicking more shorter kicks and fewer longer kicks.
This season, Butker has struggled with field goal kicks from 40-plus yards out as he’s 4-for-7, which is not what the Chiefs expected. For comparison sake, last season, the veteran kicker was 4-for-4 on field goals between 40-49 yards, but only 2-for-5 on kicks from 50-plus yards out.
If Kansas City can’t depend on Butker from longer distances, that will put the offense in a tough spot and force them to consider going for it on fourth downs, which can always be hit or miss.
That said, it will be interesting to see if Butker shows any improvement heading into Monday night’s game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The weather forecast for the primetime game is not promising, with showers and thunderstorms possible. However, if Butker is called upon to kick a field goal, he has to be perfect, no matter the elements he's kicking against.