We all know that one thing that really kept the Kansas City Chiefs from beating the Cincinnati Bengals last week. Yeah, it was a culmination of things, but the biggest was arguably the missed field goal by Harrison Butker.
Butker has been by far a top-three kicker in the league since he has entered. However, since spraining his ankle in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals, he hasn’t been the same.
The 27-year-old has been money from nearly anywhere, and at one point was the second most accurate kicker in NFL history. Now, he probably isn’t, as he has missed a few this season. But, none bigger than the one against Cincinnati.
“His confidence is where it needs to be,” special teams coordinator Dave Toub said. “He just – every kick and every time and every quarter and every time the quarter changes he’s thinking about where he’s going to be and where he’s going to play the ball and stuff like that (and) the different positions of the field – he’s thinking about that constantly.
“He just didn’t get the draw on the ball like he normally does, and he kind of just stayed out there. He normally has the draw on his kick, and he just didn’t hit it solid for him. That’s why he missed it.”
The Chiefs will need Butker in the playoffs, so in a way, it was good for him to get that miss out of the way. Obviously, we would have rather him make it, and the Chiefs beat the Bengals, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Butker and his confidence are the last things I was even a bit worried about. This guy has the ultimate confidence, and we have seen that before. He has made some huge kicks for this team and even has the record for the longest kick in Arrowhead Stadium.
Don’t put this loss on him, even if his job was the biggest thing when it came down to the win. His confidence is still there, too.
