(610 Sports) – Chiefs' place kicker Harrison Butker is taking a lot of heat for an uncharacteristically high number of missed kicks this season, including a missed extra point and potential game winning field goal in regulation of Sunday's week 15 game against the Houston Texans.
Fortunately for Butker, the Chiefs were able to get the win in overtime, thanks to a Davis Mills fumble and 26-yard game-winning touchdown run by Jerick McKinnon.
Butker has now missed three extra points on the season, but he’s also missed five field goals, a new single-season high. While the unusually high number of missed kicks is most certainly an issue and there could still be some concern that an early-season ankle injury is still lingering, the blame may not lay squarely on Butker's shoulders or his ankle.
According to former Chiefs' punter and holder Dustin Colquitt, some of that blame should be placed on current Chiefs' punter and placeholder Tommy Townsend.
Joining 610 Sports' 'Fescoe in the Morning' on Monday, Colquitt discussed some of his Twitter interactions he had on Sunday where he defended Butker and made note of the holds by Tommy Townsend, which he believes contributed to some of Butker's missed kicks.
"What I was hoping to accomplish yesterday, which I'm not very active on Twitter, more on Instagram but my point is that it takes three guys," said Colquitt. "You're load-sharing at your job, so one-third of it's James (Winchester), one-third of it's the holder, Tommy (Townsend), and one-third of it's Butker. Everybody understood what I was saying yesterday but some people were acting like kicking coaches, 'The laces aren't that big of a deal,' (but) it's the heaviest part of the ball, so they are absolutely a huge deal and if the laces are facing to the sidelines, that's a major problem – a MAJOR problem."
Colquitt admits that he was never a perfect holder, throughout all the reps there was always bound to be a bad ball but what he has been seeing is very concerning from his vantage point.
"What I'm seeing is elementary stuff happening on the football field where you have to start working beforehand," said Colquitt. "Let's go back to 2020 in Cleveland, I was in the building, I was doing filming as a 15 - 16 year veteran on these guys, just trying to be a voice and to help out, that's why they brought me back, he (Townsend) didn't listen to me. I barely even got to work with him and all I wanted was for him to be successful and in Cleveland three of the kicks in Cleveland the laces are facing to the sideline or at Butker and he missed a couple kicks. The only reason we didn't hear about that is because Dan Sorenson made an unbelievable play at the goal line and we won."
While it might sound like Colquitt is just bashing on Tommy Townsend, he was quick to praise him for his punting skills during an exchange with former Chiefs' receiver Marc Boerigter on Twitter, making it known that his holding skills were the only thing in question.
“He’s an exceptional punter,” Colquitt wrote. “If you look back at the holds on the extra point, the laces are facing the sidelines, and on the missed 50+ yarder he pulled the ball to him at the last second and forced the ball to go to the right -he’s been missing the spot all year.”
Perhaps Andy Reid and the coaching staff should consider inviting Colquitt back in the building to work with Townsend on his holds, it certainly couldn't hurt.
