Andy Reid backs decision to trust Harrison Butker despite Chiefs kicker's struggles

Butker's late miss helped give Denver an opportunity to complete its comeback and intensified questions about Kansas City's kicker situation

Nov 1, 2026 at 10:19 pm ET • 1 min read

The Kansas City Chiefs have a kicker problem. Harrison Butker missed yet another kick on Sunday, a 54-yarder that would have extended Kansas City's lead over the division rival Denver Broncos to six points but instead set up the game-winning touchdown drive by Denver.

The Chiefs led by three points when they drove down to the Denver 30-yard line and faced third-and-2 from there. Patrick Mahomes dropped back to pass, but he was sacked for a six-yard loss, which turned what would have been a 48-yard field goal attempt into a 54-yarder, and Butker missed his kick wide to the right.

It was the third significant miss in two weeks for Butker, whose job already appeared to be on thin ice after the Chiefs signed former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker to their practice squad earlier this week. Tucker had been out of the league since 2024 after he was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, as originally reported by The Baltimore Banner. After the game, Andy Reid defended the decision to send Butker out to try the deep field goal attempt.

"Those are hindsight. It ended up being what it was," Reid said, via FOX 4 Kansas City. "But it's within Harrison's range."

Here's the thing, though: 54 yards isn't really within Butker's range anymore. It may have been during his prime, but these days, he is not nearly consistent enough from that distance to justify trying that kick.

Here's what we wrote just last week, for example, when Butker missed a pair of field goal attempts in the Chiefs' loss to the Seattle Seahawks:

Through 2023, he made 89.1% of his total field goals, and 28 of 40 (70%) from beyond 50 yards. Since then, though, Butker has made just 82.2% of his kicks, and only 8-of-18 (44.4%) from beyond 50 yards. He missed one of those 50-plus-yard kicks short by several yards in this game, making him just 1-of-5 from 50-plus this year, and he missed another from 45 yards out, pushing it wide to the right. 

Whether you agree with the decision to kick the field goal or not, it's clear that the Chiefs can't trust Butker in big spots anymore. And that means his time with the Chiefs could soon be coming to an end, whether Kansas City turns to Tucker or somebody else.