The Chiefs’ special teams made amends last week. Now they must do same against Titans
Special teams shouldered its share of the burden as the Chiefs dug a huge first-quarter hole in last weekend’s playoff game against the Houston Texas.
A blocked punt returned for a touchdown and a muffed punt that set up another short-field touchdown were major meltdowns that contributed to the Chiefs’ 24-0 deficit in the AFC Divisional Round game at Arrowhead Stadium.
“You look up at the scoreboard and, say, “Gosh, we were responsible for 14 of these 24 points,’ ” Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt said.
But after the early blows, the Chiefs’ special teams unit fought back with huge moments. The game turned, the Chiefs prevailed and now Colquitt and company meet the Tennessee Titans in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game Sunday at Arrowhead.
The Chiefs reversed their special teams fortunes in one game, and now they have the opportunity to make amends for another poor performance.
Some of the final images from the Chiefs’ loss to the Titans in the regular season were field goal attempts that were botched and blocked in the final 90 seconds. In between those moments, Tennessee posted the go-ahead touchdown.
Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub said the team has fixed the issues from the debacle in Nashville and moved on.
The same process was applied to last week’s game. No need to dwell on the the block of Colquitt or Tyreek Hill’s muffed return. Fix it and move on. Even better for the Chiefs, special teams provided the comeback spark when Mecole Hardman returned a kickoff 58 yards to set up the Chiefs’ first touchdown.
Two plays from Daniel Sorensen turned Chiefs’ hope from a flicker to a fire. His tackle of up back Justin Reid from a Houston punt formation set up another short-field touchdown for the Chiefs.
“One of the most unbelievable tackles I’ve ever seen on special teams play, a solo tackle out in space,” Toub said. “Dan was waiting all year for that play. He zeroes in on that guy and looking for that direct snap.”
On the ensuing kickoff, Sorensen jarred the ball loose from return man DeAndre Carter. Darwin Thompson snatched it out of the air for the Chiefs, and another touchdown quickly followed.
The Chiefs weren’t finished on special teams. Byron Pringle downed a punt at the 7. When the Chiefs had to kickoff from the 20 because of a penalty, Pringle the former K-State receiver, made the tackle at the 25.
“It went from a nightmare to a great dream,” Toub said of his emotional swing last weekend.
The Chiefs have been rated among the NFL’s top special teams in the Andy Reid era. Toub is an original staff member and has been with Reid at previous coaching stops with the Philadelphia Eagles and Missouri. According to the analytics website FootballOutsiders.com, the Chiefs finished with the second-best special teams in the NFL this season.
There have been plenty of highlights. Hardman returned a kickoff 104 yards against the Chargers in the regular-season finale and was named to the Pro Bowl as a return specialist. Kicker Harrison Butker led the NFL with 147 points.
When things go wrong, as they did at the end of the Titans’ game in the regular season, or the beginning of the Texans game, it’s out of character for the Chiefs.
That’s why Colquitt, the 15-year veteran punter and the holder for field goals and extra points, reveled in the special teams rally last weekend.
“We just started hitting on all cylinders,” Colquitt said. “We work hard out there. We want to be difference makers in a positive way. When we close out the way like we did, we were all pumped up.”
This story was originally published January 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM.