Harrison Butker’s missed field goals in the Kansas City Chiefs’ recent loss to *our* Seahawks lit a fire under Chiefs Kingdom, and not the good kind. Before that game, their own fans were already fuming. A poll on The Feed showed a whopping 71% of voters see Butker as a problem. Talk about some serious heat on a long-time player!
Kicking Woes and the Hunt for a Leg
The frustration with Butker is real, especially after he shanked two field goals in that loss to Seattle. You know the one. That’s why the buzz is already flying about potential replacements. Jason Anderson of 810 Sports is reporting that the Chiefs have at least one kicker in town working out. He even hinted on X that a practice squad signing is likely. If he’s right, we could see a new leg wearing red and gold by this afternoon. This isn’t just a casual tryout; this is an all-hands-on-deck situation for Kansas City. They need to figure this out, fast.
Meet “Punt God,” Kicker Extraordinaire?
But wait, there’s another twist! Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports reminded everyone that the Chiefs already have a guy on the roster with placekicking experience: punter Matt Araiza. Yeah, their *punter*. If you don’t know the background, Araiza actually kicked in college at San Diego State before he became the “Punt God” in his final season as a full-time punter. Over three seasons in college, he nailed 50-of-68 field goals, including a monster 53-yarder. He was also nearly perfect on extra points, going 96-of-97. Imagine the irony if the guy who punts for them ends up taking over kicking duties! It just goes to show you how desperate they might be getting.
Seattle Exposed More Than Just Kicking Flaws
Our Seahawks didn’t just expose their kicker, though. That Week 7 win in Seattle highlighted several other serious flaws for the Chiefs. Take Chris Jones, for instance. The guy’s 32 and didn’t register a single quarterback pressure against us at Lumen Field. His pressure rate for the season is sitting at 7.3%, his lowest since Next Gen Stats started tracking it in 2018. If he keeps this pace, he’s on track for only 45 pressures this season, a huge drop from his 58+ in every season since 2017. He’s soaking up the biggest chunk of their salary cap, and they need way more production from him. Are the Chiefs *really* getting their money’s worth?
And it’s not just Jones. George Karlaftis is sixth in the NFL with 33 pressures, which sounds good, right? Except he’s only got one sack to show for it. Think about that: 15 other players with at least 26 pressures have turned those into three or more sacks. Chase Young, for example, has five fewer pressures than Karlaftis but already has seven sacks this year. Our boys really exposed some defensive line issues that day! All this makes you wonder what the Chiefs are going to do at the trade deadline. Heavy Sports is saying Kansas City is expected to be active, with big Tyreek Hill implications, whatever that means. After seeing their performance against us, you gotta think they need to make some moves.
This Chiefs team has some real questions to answer after that trip to the Emerald City. Our Seahawks gave them a reality check, and now they’re scrambling to fix not just their kicking, but core pieces of their defense. It’ll be fascinating to see how they try to solve these problems as the season rolls on.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Arrowhead Pride.
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