Make special teams special again
The elephant in the room. The worst part of the 2022 Chiefs. A perceived strength coming into this season that has absolutely, consistently let the team and the fanbase down over and over again this season.
This isn’t just about Harrison Butker’s newfound yips or whether or not Tommy Townsend can actually hold for a field goal or extra point. This season has been a wholistic failure at nearly every level for Dave Toub and the Chiefs’ special teams. If you don’t believe me, just digest these numbers for a second. On punt return this season, the Chiefs have fumbled the ball 5 times. That’s third worst in the league behind just the Titans and Colts. To make matters worse, the Chiefs have only fair caught 13 of the 35 punts they’ve fielded in 2022. That number puts them 28th in the league in fair catches all while they are the league’s third worst at fumbling punts.
Where do the Chiefs rank in field goal percentage this year, you ask? LAST. Extra point percentage? 29th! They also haven’t returned a kick or a punt for a touchdown, but that seems like we’re asking too much at this point. Sure the Chiefs are the best in the league in net punt yard average at 45.5, but give some credit to the offense that the punt unit has gotten the league’s third-fewest reps this year or we could have seen a much, much worse version of that unit in 2022 as well.
At this point, the Chiefs might be better off just rushing 11 and not even worrying about fielding punts. If Dave Toub’s unit can find a way just to not get noticed on Sunday, to be completely neutral, it will stir up a level of confidence that hasn’t been there all season for the Chiefs and the Kingdom. At the very least, it will give us a reason to just shrug when asked about the Chiefs’ special teams rather than the gag-inducing feeling we’ve had so far this year.