You see it plastered all over the web: "Harrison Butker is COOKED." And by every metric, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker has performed poorly in 2026. There's no arguing that he's been bad. The question is "Why?" and, maybe more importantly, "Can he return to form?"
There are few people who can really answer these questions. Head coach Andy Reid and special teams coach Dave Toub offer little more than fluff during press conferences, stating that Butker "is our kicker" and "I haven't made any decisions yet" regarding any personnel change.
The low-hanging fruit that many Chiefs fans seem to be reaching for right now is that Butker is "cooked." He's finished. He's done. He simply doesn't know how to kick the football anymore. But is it really possible that a 31-year-old has lost the physical ability to do so when, less than three months ago, he connected on a 69-yard field goal during a preseason game?
Could Harrison Butker's struggles be mental or mechanical?
There are other possibilities besides the easy conclusion that "he's cooked." He could be injured. He could have "the yips," an unquantifiable sports condition that leads to a rapid decline in routine skills. Kansas City Royals fans may think of second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who mysteriously forgot how to throw to first base. Butker could very well be suffering from a mental block that is affecting his approach, his preparation, and his execution. He certainly won't be the same anytime soon after Sunday's game against the Jets, in which he was booed mercilessly after missing two consecutive attempts at the buzzer before halftime.
Butker spoke about "the yips" at the Super Bowl in February 2025 when talking about 49ers kicker Jake Moody, who was in his own slump.
"So much of kicking is the mental aspect of it," Butker told Sports Illustrated. "If you're missing kicks you have to realize or you have to decide is it a technique issue? Is it my mental approach? Maybe it's both? It's that balance of, you wanna change to get better, but you also don't wanna change too much. In some ways, you don't wanna care too much because if you care too much then it just takes your whole life over and that's all you think about. Sometimes that can just make things worse. I think the way that you adapt and change, you alter either your mental approach or your physical approach, which is what makes a lot of kickers either great or not in the league."
Since Butker's technical change to his kicking motion (in which he stopped dropping to one knee during his kicks), his accuracy has dipped considerably. The former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket has missed as many field goals from 50-plus yards since Week 1 of 2025 (nine) as he did in the previous five seasons.
Is Harrison Butker's slump really the end of his career?
So yeah, the numbers are gross. But does a bad streak mean a highly decorated, experienced kicker is really done? Or is it just what it is at face value: a bad streak? Keep in mind, this is a player who was regarded as the best kicker in the NFL in recent years and is still just 31 years old. He's going to be considered for the Ring of Honor one day for this franchise, and deservedly so.
One of the league's most prolific kickers of all time is Adam Vinatieri. A four-time Super Bowl champion, he earned All-Pro honors in 2002 and 2004, but in between those years, in 2003, Vinatieri was—you guessed it—31 years old.
That age-31 season was, by Vinatieri's standards, disastrous. He was 9-of-16 between 30 and 50 yards and 0-for-1 on his only 50-plus-yard attempt that season. Kickers rarely missed extra points back then because they were attempted from the 2-yard line, but Vinatieri found a way to miss one that year, too. It was a slump, no doubt about it. But Vinatieri found his way out of it. Now a Hall of Famer, he played two more seasons in New England before signing with the Indianapolis Colts, where he played an impressive 14 more seasons before retiring at age 47.
Why Butker deserves more patience from Chiefs fans
It's not fair to any kicker to be compared with the likes of Adam Vinatieri. But the precedent is there. In a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, Chiefs fans are irate with Butker, for obvious reasons. But there are other possible conclusions that might be a little more detailed than "he's cooked." He has slammed the door on several Chiefs wins, including multiple clutch kicks to win playoff games—even a Super Bowl.
Butker deserves a little more patience and etiquette from Chiefs fans than he is receiving. While it might take an IR stint to get his mojo back, I expect Butker to return to form someday. My hope is that he is still in Chiefs red when he does.
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