For a guy who's usually automatic, 2025 was a season to forget for Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker. He missed five field goals—his second-worst total in a season—and converted just 88.6 percent of his extra points, the lowest mark of his career. But Butker insists the blame doesn't rest on his leg. Instead, he points to the league's revamped kickoff rules.
Speaking to reporters this week, Butker explained that the new rules forced him to alter his kickoff technique, which in turn threw off his field goal mechanics. He said he spent the early part of the season trying to hit "knuckleballs" on kickoffs—low, line-drive kicks designed to limit returns—but that approach messed with his foot-to-ball contact on field goals.
"Field goals matter the most," Butker said. "Trying to hit those knuckleballs and the funny kickoffs maybe affected the field goals a little bit. I think halfway through the season last year I said, forget the kickoffs—not forget the kickoffs—but I'm just gonna hit a high hang time ball, good location, just focus on the location. I'm not gonna hit a low line-drive knuckleball. And I think that's helped my field goals because it's the same foot-to-ball contact. Good foot-to-ball contact on the field goal and just do the same thing on the kickoff rather than having two different swings. So that helped me the second half of the season and I'm sticking with that for training camp and this season."
The numbers back him up. Butker missed three field goals and two extra points in the first four weeks of 2025, but after switching his approach, he missed just two field goals and two extra points the rest of the way. He still finished fifth in the league in both field goals made and attempted.
While Butker's mid-season adjustment seems to have solved his issues, the Chiefs have bigger fish to fry this offseason. With Patrick Mahomes recovering from a knee injury, questions at wide receiver, and an aging defense, kicking is far from the top of the priority list. The team hasn't even brought in competition for Butker, a clear vote of confidence.
Butker's situation echoes the panic among Chiefs fans when a certain quarterback had a rough day in camp—though in both cases, the panic may be premature.
As the 2026 season approaches, Butker is sticking with his revised kickoff strategy, confident it will keep his field goals on track. If his second-half performance is any indication, Chiefs fans can breathe easy.
