Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker missed another field goal on Sunday, his only attempt of the day in a 35-12 win over the New York Jets.
The miss ramped up pressure on the veteran kicker, who’s facing competition from the Kansas City practice squad via eight-time All-Pro Justin Tucker.
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Butker’s miss on Sunday was from 51 yards as the first-half clock expired. It prompted boos from the Kansas City crowd and a question from CBS’ Tracy Wolfson to head coach Andy Reid about what he needs to see from Butker moving foward. His answer was succinct.
“I need to see it go through,” Reid said.
After the game, Reid didn’t bother to wait for a question to address Butker and Kansas City’s kicking situation. He brought it up during his opening statement.
“I’m sure I’ll be asked about Butker,” Reid said. “I’ll address that as we go throughout the week. I’ll look at everything. No need to ask. That’ll be the answer that you get.
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“Not making any decisions right now today.”
So there is a decision to make. And Reid’s clearly not ruling out making a change.
Butker’s in his 10th season with the Chiefs and has won three Super Bowls with the team. A decision to move on from him won’t come lightly.
But he’s in the midst of the worst season of his career by far. With Sunday’s miss, Butker’s now 12 of 19 for the season. His 63.1% conversion rate trails his single-season career low of 88.6% last season by a wide margin.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, brought in Tucker for a reason.
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Tucker comes with a significant amount of baggage due to 16 allegations of sexual misconduct against him from his time with the Baltimore Ravens. It’s not the sort of baggage a team would be expected to take on for somebody to sit on the practice squad.
