Patrick Mahomes can look mortal and other Chiefs lessons learned vs Dolphins
By Matt Conner
Special Teams are special again
During the first half of the season (and then some), the Chiefs special teams units took their lumps for good reason. Each week there seemed to be multiple miscues—from turnovers to sloppy penalties to missed extra points to short punts. Harrison Butker had consistency concerns. Dustin Colquitt was missed. And Dave Toub’s units just looked out of sorts.
All of those mistakes stood out even more given how celebrated the Chiefs special teams units have been for most of the last decade. The Chiefs are often ranked near or at the very top of all special teams rankings year after year, so to see this year’s miscues was confusing and disappointing.
Over the last few weeks, however, Toub’s units have looked good to great and the Chiefs are showing they can be dangerous in this part of the game as well. Butker is automatic and the yips or hiccups that led to easy misses on a string of extra point attempts is now behind him. Tommy Townsend turned in some nice punts on Sunday and in recent weeks. And the Chiefs have coverage units have helped the team in terms of field position with solid tackling.
It also helps that Mecole Hardman ran back a punt for a touchdown in the third quarter:
https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1338210686661496834
The splashy plays like this will turn heads and earn praise for the players and Toub, but the execution has also been there on the overlooked or underappreciated plays as well. A good turn for the Chiefs overall.