Harrison Butker is a greater asset than Chiefs Kingdom realized

“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?” is one of the lines in Joni Mitchell’s iconic song Big Yellow Taxi. For the Kansas City Chiefs, that statement is especially true for kicker Harrison Butker.

Butker has been out for the past two games after suffering an ankle injury in Week 1, and his absence was dearly felt against the Indianapolis Colts.

With Butker out, the Chiefs turned to Matt Ammendola. And while he had a solid showing against the L.A. Chargers in Week 2, Ammendola had a shocker in Indianapolis in Week 3, highlighting just how big of a role Butker plays for the Chiefs.

Kicker Harrison Butker is no longer going to be the under-appreciated asset on the Kansas City Chiefs after his injury.

Ammendola missed an extra point early in the first quarter and he missed a crucial field goal in the fourth term that would have given Kansas City a seven-point lead. Instead, on the very next drive, Indianapolis went on to score a go-ahead touchdown that gave them a three-point lead and ultimately won the Colts the game.

Sandwiched in between those two misses was a fake field goal attempt on what would have been a 42-yard attempt. It came on a 4th & 10, and the fact that the Chiefs opted to have Tommy Townsend throw a pass instead of Ammendola attempting what should be a very gettable kick—NFL kickers hit 78 percent of FGs from 40-49 yards last year—shows just how little faith they had in his abilities.

Combining Ammendola’s missed FG and PAT, and the fake field goal that was surely only attempted because the Chiefs didn’t back him, K.C. left seven points on the field from kicks in Indianapolis, something that would surely be incomprehensible with Butker taking aim.

Since his first game in red, Butker has made 147 field goals at a conversion rate of 90.2%, the second highest FG percentage in NFL history. In his 78 NFL games, Butker has only missed both an extra point and a field goal in the same game four times. He has only missed multiple field goals in the same game once.

If Joni Mitchell took all of Butker’s field goals and put ’em in a field goal museum, then charged the people a dollar an’ a half just to see ’em, they would have 163 made field goals to look at. With Butker, the Chiefs were in field goal paradise. And then Ammendola came in, paved over it, and put up a parking lot.

The Chiefs clearly didn’t trust Ammendola, for whatever reason. On the flip side, Chiefs Kingdom would trust Butker to kick just about any field goal in any situation in any game.

That raises a question: why was Ammendola signed in the first place, especially if Kansas City didn’t trust him? It was a dubious decision, to begin with. Ammendola reportedly won a kick-off to earn a spot on K.C.’s roster, but he also had the lowest field goal percentage in the NFL last year, only converting 68.4% of kicks. Whatever the reason behind signing him was, it doesn’t really matter now. Ammendola was released earlier this week, with Kansas City signing Matthew Wright as Butker’s new short-term replacement.

What Ammendola’s struggles in Indianapolis also highlights is the volatility of the kicking position – something Kansas City hasn’t experienced over the last six seasons. Butker has been Mr. Reliable for the Chiefs, and his kicking skills are something that at times have been taken for granted. He has been a constant feature on the roster – the last two weeks are the only time Butker has missed back-to-back games since his debut for Kansas City, and prior to that, he had only missed one game overall, last season’s Week 16 clash against Pittsburgh.

That consistency is in stark comparison to the revolving door of kickers other NFL teams have experienced. Butker played his first game for the Chiefs in Week 4 in 2017, with KC’s only other kickers his temporary replacements. In that same time span, the LA Chargers have had eight different kickers on their roster.

Butker has also consistently made big kicks when the pressure is on for the Chiefs. He nailed the late FG against Buffalo in the playoffs to send that game to overtime, and early last season he made two 50+ yard field goals as time expired against the Chargers that were called back, before finally draining the winner as well.

Butker is as dependable as kickers in the NFL can be. It can be easy for Chiefs fans to get used to that and think that kicking is just easy. Clearly, it isn’t. And Ammendola’s poor performance just highlights that is Butker a greater asset than people realize.