Chris Jones deserves to the paid and other lessons learned in Week 9

Dave Toub Maybe the Chiefs’ Best Coordinator

To address the elephant in the room right off the bat: yes, Mecole Hardman fumbled on the opening kickoff of the second half. He also nearly fumbled on the next one as well. But that does not diminish the ability and success of the Chiefs special teams units on Sunday.

The Chiefs averaged 25.3 yards per kick return (excluding touchbacks), 50.2 yards per punt, and an average return of 5.8 yards. Harrison Butker was also perfect on scoring attempts as well, going 2/2 on extra point attempts, and 4/4 on field goals, one of which was a 54-yarder, and another as time expired to win the game.

The person to thank: special teams coordinator and assistant head coach, Dave Toub.

There were no holding calls on returns. Great seams opened up for Mecole Hardman. Solid blocks were seen on the edges of kicks. Strong open field tackling could be found on punt coverages. Of course there was also Dustin Colquitt‘s perfect catch, spin, and hold on any field goal or extra point attempt.

Hardman’s fumble stands out as the only mistake made by the special teams unit, and even that could be chalked up to a great hit and rip by the tackler. Dave Toub even managed to capitalize on those mistakes, by switching over to the more explosive kick returner, Tyreek Hill. The Vikings were forced to punt shorter and out of bounds to avoid Hill’s potential, setting up a shanked punt at the end of the game that put the Chiefs in position to kick the game winner.

After some early season concerns, the special teams units are coming together at the right time and Toub is once again working his magic.