Harrison Butker finds great moments to add depth to his kicking game for KC Chiefs
A shoulder ride — that’s the best way for a kicker to leave the field. The legs have already done their job.
Harrison Butker deserved the tribute after winning Sunday’s game with a record performance.
Butker’s 58-yard field goal — his second from that distance in the game — provided the winning points in the Chiefs’ 23-20 overtime decision over the Los Angeles Chargers in the host team’s debut at $5 billion SoFi Stadium.
The atmosphere was surreal with no fans in the stands in a beautiful new stadium. But the environment may have helped Butker.
SoFi Stadium is covered. The ends are open air, but there was no wind to affect the path of the ball. Kick it solidly and it’s just a matter of squaring up and not getting it blocked.
Butker waited through the two-minute warning, a false-start penalty and pushed him back five yards and the Chargers’ final timeout. Twice he had swung his powerful right leg through the kick, once at 53 yards, the other at 58, and both would have been good.
Finally, it came down to one snap.
“I just got a little more angry every kick,” Butker said. “I think I even looked over at the Chargers’ sideline like, ‘Come on man, I’m trying to finish this game and get back to Kansas City.’”
Butker’s third attempt split the uprights, and he said it was the best of his kicks. Making two previously in that sequence built, not damaged, his confidence.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes gave the idea of a miss no oxygen.
“One hundred percent he’d make it,” Mahomes said.
Also contributing to Butker’s glorious Sunday: homework.
“During the week I did a little research and learned the turf in SoFi Stadium was the same turf used in the Texans’ and Cowboys’ stadiums, and I had good games when I kicked there,” Butker said.
Butker felt good during the Chiefs’ warmups, making kicks from 67 yards before the game at 70 at halftime. Special teams coach Dave Toub mentioned to Andy Reid that if the Chiefs get to the L.A. 40, making it a 55-yard attempt, the Chiefs should feel comfortable.
That happened late in the third quarter. The Chiefs trailed 17-6 and were staggering on offense. They had driven to the Chargers’ 37, but then Mahomes was sacked for a big loss. A 10-yard completion put the ball at the 40.
Butker then drilled his first 58-yarder, matching the franchise record of Nick Lowery, who made kicks from that distance in 1985 and 1993. Butker’s previous best had been 56 yards.
“I guess I have to break the record, hopefully next week,” Butker said.
According to ESPN Stats, the kick was the second longest to win a game in overtime since the NFL went to overtime in the regular season in 1974.
Butker, in his fourth NFL season, entered Sunday’s game as the second-most accurate field goal kicker in league history at 89.9 percent. Distance is his next frontier.
“For me to take it to next level I have to have some longer kicks,” Butker said. “In 2018, my long was 54, which is OK — kind of middle of the park. Last year, making a 56-yarder was big.
“But now I feel comfortable from 58 and beyond. That’s what I have to start doing to separate myself from the rest of the kickers in the league: making long field goals.”
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 11:26 PM.