In 1998, Gary Anderson went an entire regular season without missing a field goal, 35 for 35, and then missed a 38-yarder late in the NFC Championship Game. The Minnesota Vikings lost in overtime, and no one remembered the perfect year. Kickers are generally one swing away from the other side of that story, and Kansas City Chiefs‘ star Harrison Butker is seemingly facing a harsh reality around it.
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During the Week 7 matchup, the Chiefs faced the Seattle Seahawks on the road while boasting their 5-0 record. However, Kansas City suffered a 20-3 loss, which had many questioning the team’s performance, with a few shedding light on placekicker Harrison Butker.
Butker finished 1-for-3 on field goals and did not attempt any extra points, as the Chiefs failed to score a touchdown. However, those two misses were very uncharacteristic for someone like Butker. After all, he has a franchise record under his name for scoring an official career-long field goal of 62 yards.
Yet, in the immediate aftermath, there was an uproar against Harrison Butker, especially from former Kansas City Chiefs players Gehrig Dieter and Shaun Smith.
“Might be time to sign Justin Tucker,” Dieter wrote on X.
Gehrig Dieter, who spent five seasons (2017-2021) with the Chiefs, urged his former NFL franchise to replace Harrison Butker with Justin Tucker. Tucker is a Super Bowl champion (with the Baltimore Ravens in the 2012 season) and a 13-season veteran in the league.
However, after the Ravens released him in May 2025, the 36-year-old placekicker still stands as an unsigned free agent waiting for his next opportunity. Although Tucker had the worst season of his career in 2024, converting a career-low 73.3% of his field goals (22-of-30), Dieter believes the former Ravens star will be a good replacement for Butker.
During the Week 7 game, the Chiefs kicker missed a 58-yard and a 45-yard field goal attempt. However, shortly after the game, Butker owned up to his shaky performance and admitted that things felt off from the start.
“Warm-up wasn’t great. It’s just something that you have to roll with and try to fix it in the game and do the best that you can,” Butker said. “Life of a kicker, it either goes in or it doesn’t. Unfortunately, there’s been some kicks that haven’t gone in.”
Meanwhile, Shaun Smith, who was part of the Chiefs in the 2010 and 2012 seasons, seemingly called for the immediate release of Harrison Butker.
“Leave the kicker in Seattle,” Smith wrote on X.
While Harrison Butker’s misses cost Kansas City their unblemished record, the placekicker has been part of the franchise since his rookie year in 2017. And over the years, Butker has had several crucial clutch moments, which also contributed to the Chiefs’ three Super Bowl triumphs from 2019-2023.
Take the Super Bowl LVII game against the Philadelphia Eagles as an example, where, with the score tied 35-35, Butker calmly converted a 27-yard field goal with 8 seconds remaining, securing the Chiefs’ 38-35 championship victory.
As a result, even Chiefs HC Andy Reid defended his placekicker, citing his long-term track record.
“Listen, he’s been one of the most consistent kickers in football,” Reid said during the post-game press conference after the Week 7 game. “He’s off a bit. So, we’ve got to fix that.”