KC Chiefs special teams units deserves some love in 2021

The Kansas City Chiefs are in red hot form. After four consecutive wins, the Chiefs have lifted themselves into first place in the AFC West and brought their playoff future into their own hands.

Kansas City’s offense receives a ton of attention and credit, and lately, so too has their defense—and rightfully so. But Chiefs Kingdom should also show plenty of love for their fantastic special teams unit, too. The Chiefs have been tremendous on special teams this season. As units that often get overlooked, they deserve just as much praise and appreciation as the offense and defense.

According to PFF, the Chiefs have the third-best special teams unit in the league (91.1), narrowly behind the New Orleans Saints (92.3) and Cincinnati Bengals (91.2). This has been a marked improvement from last season when Kansas City was ranked 25th in the league.

The Kansas City Chiefs have looked excellent on special teams lately.

Despite playing on a team that rarely punts the ball thanks to their spectacular offense, Tommy Townsend has still had a great season, and this week was named the AFC special teams player of the month for November.

Townsend had 10 punts for an average of 54.9 yards with six landing inside the 20, and he is the first Kansas City punter to ever win the award. The award was Townsend’s second accolade of the season. In Week 9 his six punts, 56.8 yards average, and 64 yards long also saw him win the AFC special teams player of the week award.

Overall, 15 of Townsend’s 26 punts have landed inside the 20 (58%, the third-highest rate in the league) and only one has resulted in a touchback. He leads the league in net yards per punt attempt according to PFF (25.9), and he is top 10 in both average hangtime (4.33) and yards per attempt (48.6).

Townsend hasn’t just impressed with his booming right foot though. Not only does he boast a fantastic head of hair, but he also boasts an attractive 118.7 passer rating thanks to a perfect 16-yard pass to Marcus Kemp on a fake punt against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10

It isn’t just Townsend who has been a standout on special teams, Harrison Butker has been in good form too. Butker has been solid on field goals, making 15 of 18 attempts. While two of his misses came on attempts over 50 yards, Butker’s four made kicks from that range are tied for the sixth-most in the league.

More notably though, Butker has been excellent on extra points this season. He seemed to have the yips on extra points last season with a career-low 88.9% conversion rate and a career-high six misses. This season however he has been near perfect, missing just one of his 33 extra-point attempts. His 97% conversion rate so far this season would be the second-highest of his career.

In the return game, Byron Pringle is top-10 in both total kick return yards (482) and average yards per return (25.4), while Mike Hughes and Mecole Hardman boast the fifth- and sixth-longest punt returns of the season (37 yards and 31 yards, respectively). Hughes has only returned three punts this season, but his average of 18.3 yards per return is the highest in the league, although it is clearly a small sample size.

The Chiefs have also blocked a field goal this season, with Alex Okafor getting up to reject Mason Crosby’s 37-yard attempt back in Week 7.

Overall, Kansas City’s execution on special teams this season has been superb, and special teams coach Dave Toub and the players deserve a ton of credit. From Okafor’s blocked field goal to Townsend’s fake punt and Butker’s inch-perfect pooch kick against Dallas, Kansas City is performing across the board on special teams and they have stepped up when it matters most.

They don’t always get as much attention as the offense or the defense, but Kansas City’s special teams unit is certainly well-deserving of the same level of praise and appreciation and should be shown just as much love.