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Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker spoke to the media on Tuesday, December 20, which was two days removed from him missing as many crucial kicks during Kansas City’s 30-24 overtime victory over the Houston Texans.
“Interesting discussion in Chiefs locker room today with Harrison Butker, who said he’s kicking as many clean balls in terms of the laces as usual,” Adam Teicher of ESPN wrote on Tuesday, December 20.
Butker also said he does not want to make any drastic changes to his routine.
“You can get yourself where you’re just trying to change way too much and (then) you’re hurting yourself,” he said, per Teicher
Butker was then asked about his holds from punter Tommy Townsend, who is the alleged main reason for Butker’s inaccuracies, according to former Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt.
“It doesn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary. You look across the league and you see guys hitting balls where the laces are facing straight at them and they’re still hitting it through,” Butker said, via Teicher.
Butker took the full blame for his missed kicks, saying, “No matter what the ball’s doing, I’ve got to get it through the uprights,” according to Teicher.
Butker Misses PAT, Game-Winning FG
In the 30-24 overtime victory over Houston, Butker had two missed kicks. The first one was a missed point after attempt just before halftime that would have tied the game at 14 each.
The second miss came at the end of regulation from 51 yards out. If the attempt was made, the Chiefs would have won the game in regulation. But Butker missed it wide right.
The missed PAT against the Texans was Butker’s third of the season and his first since Week 10. In 10 games played this season, Butker is making a career-low 76.2% of his field goal attempts, which ranks 35th among all kickers with at least one field goal attempt his season, per NFL.com.
Twitter Reacts to Butker’s Response
Twitter users reacted to Butker’s missed kicks against the Texans, as well as his comments during his Tuesday media availability.
“[How] about we practice getting the laces in the right place and see if there is any improvement. Can’t hurt right?” one Twitter user wrote.
“LOL what a passive aggressive thing to say. ‘Yeah, Tommy is holding it with the laces in, but…’,” another user wrote.
“Seems to be trying not to throw Townsend under the bus but maybe agreeing a little bit with Colquitt,” another user wrote.
“That’s what he’s going to say to media,” another user wrote. “Internally I hope he and the holder are working through things because we cannot continue to be missing kicks at a record pace. It is costing this team wins.”
“Doesn’t sound like he’s really defending TT. Hopefully there’s some context I’m missing,” another user wrote.
“Butker is low-key throwing Townsend under the bus,” another user wrote. “Let’s say ‘it is Tommy’s fault’ for argument sake. Then isn’t this REALLY Dave Toub’s fault? If your kicker can’t kick with the holder you are using, don’t you HAVE to try someone else holding?”
“Leadership and accountability, let’s get better 7,” another user wrote.
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