Chiefs fans have started sounding the alarm again on Harrison Butker, and Friday night’s preseason game only sharpened the concern.
At Arrowhead Stadium, Butker pushed a 58-yard field-goal try wide right against the Seahawks. A kick from that range is hardly a given, but the miss fit an ugly little pattern that has followed him through the month. Since drilling a 69-yard field goal last week, Butker has missed three attempts - two field goals and an extra point - and every one of them has gone wide right.
The sideline detail only added to the attention. Before kickoff, Butker was seen working with a tape measure as part of his pregame routine.
The New York Times’ Dan Pompei described that process in 2023: “As part of his hour-long practice warmup, Butker uses a tape measure for his approach steps - he starts precisely 92 inches back and 78 inches from center horizontally. He puts a piece of tape on the axis.
Then he tapes the spot 12 inches from the ball where he wants his plant foot to be. For 10 minutes, he goes over his steps.”
That image made the rounds again after the latest miss, but the bigger story was the reaction from Chiefs fans, many of whom are clearly uneasy about the kicker in his 10th NFL season.
The posts came fast and blunt: “Butker your days might be numbered,” one fan wrote on X. Another said, “Butker doesn’t make any sense lol.”
Others piled on with lines like, “Yea Butker is becoming a problem,” “Welp. Worried about Butker again,” and “Butker still with the yips.”
One fan tied the frustration to a familiar game-day feeling: “ Butker missing a second half kick,” a fan wrote, “and the opposition taking the lead in the following minutes feels like it happens every week”.
The harshest comparison came from this prediction: “We are soon to be watching the live transformation of Harrison Butker into Lin Elliot... I hope you all are bracing yourselves”
And by the end of the night, the message from a chunk of the fan base was impossible to miss: they want answers, and they want them soon.
Butker… we gotta figure this out 😭
- Lexi (@lexiosborne) August 29, 2026
We have a Butker problem again https://t.co/Lsj3Y4IC6N
- Garron Abernathy 🎸 (@myownperson44) August 29, 2026
Butker your days might be numbered
- Josh Miller (@jp_miller23) August 29, 2026
Butker doesn’t make any sense lol
- Carson_Hudkins (@ChiefsSzn_26) August 29, 2026
Yea Butker is becoming a problem
- CADILLAC (@FLY_LIBRA18) August 29, 2026
Same Butker as last year, unfortunately. Need a new kicker…
- Coach Di (@CoachDi85) August 29, 2026
Butker still with the yips
- Chris Murr (@chris_murr) August 29, 2026
butker missing a second half kick and the opposition taking the lead in the following minutes feels like it happens every week
- stop talking dirty to me(ghan) (@babyouremyqueen) August 29, 2026
We are soon to be watching the live transformation of Harrison Butker into Lin Elliot... I hope you all are bracing yourselves
- Dr Jekyll / Mr Hyde 🏴☠️ (@GetReady88) August 29, 2026
Butker is a liability.
- Brian Tackett (@Treynolan13) August 29, 2026
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The interesting part is how much of this final cutdown still feels unsettled even after the team has gone through its last preseason test. A detailed roster projection can map out who is likely to stick at each spot, but the Chiefs are still weighing recent performances against depth, versatility and how the new pieces fit once the games start counting. For a team that has spent the summer sorting through competition at multiple positions, the last word on the roster could end up telling the story of how Kansas City wants to open the season. [Read more 🡒]