Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker had the worst season of his career. He missed four games after injuring his ankle in the season opener, and he had his lowest accuracy number for field goals (75.0) and for extra points (92.7).
The Chiefs, though, had complete faith in Butker to deliver them a trip to the Super Bowl, and he did. His 45-yard field goal with three seconds left handed Kansas City a 23-20 win and a trip to Glendale, Arizona.
“I try to treat every kick like a big kick,” Butker said, via Blair Kerkhoff of the Kansas City Star. “Extra points, first-quarter field goals, those are all big kicks to me. So when I do get to that big moment it’s the same. I try to trick my mind in that regard.”
The conditions were not nice, though, with a wind chill of 10 degrees at kickoff and a swirling wind, which Butker said was “worse than what the flags were showing.”
If not for Joseph Ossai‘s hit on Patrick Mahomes out of bounds, which gave the Chiefs an extra 15 yards, Butker might not have gotten his chance to play the part of hero in regulation. His 45-yarder, which was right down the middle, didn’t clear the crossbar by a lot.
“I wasn’t sure if the ball was going to have enough distance,” Butker said. “I hit it well. But it was just kind of floating up in the air. I’m glad it went over.”
Butker also made kicks of 43 and 24 yards Sunday after making a pair of 50-yard field goals in the divisional round win over the Jaguars.