Something incredibly rare happened at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday.
It was something that hadn’t happened in more than a year, something so unlikely to occur that it has the lowest odds of happening anywhere in the NFL—an opposing kicker missed a field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs.
I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when New York Jets kicker Jason Sanders pulled his fifth field goal attempt wide of the mark on Sunday. It feels like that never happens, and that’s because it almost never does.
Other teams’ kickers have been almost unfalteringly accurate whenever they’ve lined up for field goals against the Chiefs recently.
Sanders’ wayward kick on Sunday was the first failed field goal attempt against the Chiefs this season and the first in a long, long time. Prior to that, the last miss happened more than a year ago when Buffalo Bills kicker Matt Prater doinked a 52-yarder off the upright in Week 9 last season. It was the only miss of the year.
Opposing kickers have been nearly perfect against the Chiefs
Since the start of last season, Kansas City has had the highest opposing field goal conversion percentage in the NFL, with 50 of the last 52 attempts flying through the uprights, a whopping 96 percent of kicks.
It’s an insane level of accuracy, and Kansas City’s own kicking woes happening simultaneously have made it feel even more frustrating. While other teams’ kickers have been lights-out, Harrison Butker has the most misses of anyone in the NFL, with 17 blown kicks since the start of last season.
It’s like the Chiefs have been on the wrong end of the bad luck stick twice at the same time.
Other NFL teams haven't suffered the same kicking misfortune
Other teams, however, have not been so unfortunate. While the Chiefs have gotten the best out of opposing kickers, the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions have gotten the worst.
Houston has the lowest opposing field goal conversion percentage of any team over the last two years, with just 72 percent of kicks taken against them going through—almost a quarter lower than Kansas City’s rate.
As for Detroit, opponents are just 8-for-14 on field goals attempted against them this season, a minuscule 57 percent conversion rate. The Lions had the same number of misses against them in their Week 7 game against the Green Bay Packers alone as the Chiefs have had against them over the past two seasons combined—two.
The Chiefs have had the worst kicking luck of any team for the past two seasons by far. Hopefully, the miss against Kansas City and a looming change at kicker are the things that turn that luck around.
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