Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has earned his first weekly award of the 2019 season.
On Wednesday, Butker was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his Week 9 performance against the Minnesota Vikings. He finished the game with a perfect 2-for-2 on extra points and 4-for-4 on field goals. That includes a game-tying 54-yard field goal and a game-winning 44-yard field goal. The Chiefs defeated the Vikings in the final seconds of the game by a score of 26-23.
Butker received some high praise from his fellow specialist Dustin Colquitt because the conditions on the field were extremely windy — the windiest he’d seen in his entire career with the Chiefs. Butker and the Chiefs’ coaching staff actually believe that the final field goal was partially blocked, however, Butker got enough on it to sail it through the uprights.
“My hat goes out to him for the day that he had – four field goals,” Reid said of Butker’s performance. “That one at the end, that was a big one. They did a pretty nice job. You could see the little technique that they used. They jumped over our guys and actually tipped the ball slightly. It was a nice job. He drilled that thing. He put a lot into it and was able to get it over, even with the hand that hit it.”
Now, Butker is being recognized by the league for his tremendous performance. With a talent like Patrick Mahomes sidelined it puts all the more pressure on the kicking game and Butker rose to the occasion in Week 9. This marks his third AFC Player of the Week honor in his career with the first two awards coming at the end of his rookie campaign in 2017.
Chiefs fans won’t have to worry about Butker going anywhere anytime soon as the team signed him to a long-term contract extension this past offseason.
