The Chiefs’ first matchup against the Broncos in Week 14 was one of the best games of the season for Kansas City’s special teams unit.
In Week 17 vs. Denver, it was one of the unit’s worst games. It was so bad that the unit dropped from 18th to 24th overall in Football Outsider’s special teams DVOA rankings.
It’s not even due to poor play across the board, either, but rather silly mental errors that seem to be easily fixable. Some of these frustrating issues have been a problem for the Chiefs all season long.
Thankfully, the unit wasn’t all bad. We’ll start with the biggest positive — that rookie safety Nazeeh Johnson has been impressive on special teams in the second half of the season. Then we’ll dive into the issues that plagued the team in Week 17.
Additionally, be sure to check out my special teams stats, snap counts and grades for individual players via Google Sheets for a closer look at player performances.
Kickoff and punt coverage: Nazeeh Johnson's coming into his own
One of the knocks on Johnson’s game heading into the 2022 draft was his tackling ability. In Johnson’s draft profile on NFL.com, Lance Zierlein noted that Johnson was a “below-average stopper as a tackler in space” in college at Marshall and that he would get “dragged for extra yardage as wrap-up tackler.” These weaknesses are why Johnson was considered a late-round prospect and why he ultimately fell to the Chiefs in Round 7.
Most seventh-rounders struggle to make a team, let alone contribute in their first year on a Super Bowl-contending squad like the Chiefs. That’s why it’s so incredible that Chiefs general manager Brett Veach found not one, but three seventh-round contributors in Johnson, CB Jaylen Watson and RB Isiah Pacheco.
Johnson hasn’t earned as much attention as Watson or Pacheco due to being a special teams-only contributor this season. But despite not yet appearing on defense, Johnson has still managed to carve out a role on kickoff and punt coverage. His last four weeks have been tremendous — he’s earned a special teams tackle in each of the last four games, earning six total tackles (three solo, three assisted) during that span.
Johnson earned two solo special teams tackles in Week 17. The first was on kickoff coverage:
And the second on punt coverage:
These two tackles, plus his other tackles in recent games, show that Johnson is doing a better job of controlling his elite speed (he runs a 4.35-second 40-yard dash) and taking proper angles to stop ball carriers. Most of his wrap-ups have come in space, too, which means he’s actively improving on those weaknesses listed in his draft profile.
These improvements show why playing on special teams is so important for the development of young talent. Players like Johnson can refine certain skills on these snaps which are still meaningful but not quite as crucial as most defensive snaps. Once Johnson does see action on defense, he’ll be much more up for the challenge than at the start of his career.
Punt returns: Is Kadarius Toney really the best option?
Receiver Kadarius Toney has now had enough punt returns to judge whether he’s a good option in that spot. And so far I’m not quite sure the answer is yes.
Toney’s 6.2-yard return average (nine returns for 56 yards) is only slightly better than WR Skyy Moore’s 6.1-yard average (14 returns for 86 yards), and neither average is very good. Toney had two returns for 14 yards against the Broncos in Week 17, plus this fumble:
Toney also had a couple of instances of calling a fair catch when he might not have needed to. His first fair catch really stood out:
Obviously, it’s easy to say this behind a computer screen but it appeared that Toney had plenty of room to return the above punt. This, combined with a few previous instances of not calling a fair catch when he probably should have, makes me question his fair-catching judgment altogether.
This all begs the question: Is Toney really the best punt return option for the Chiefs, or should the team go back to using WR Justin Watson? Toney may have more speed and “big play” potential, but Watson has shown to have good hands and quick judgment as a returner, plus he has a better average (7.8 yards per return), albeit at a smaller sample size (five returns).
The fact is that heading into the playoffs, the Chiefs cannot afford to have their punt returner put the ball on the ground. And so far, out of the Chiefs’ four returners this season (Toney, Moore, Watson and Mecole Hardman), Watson is the only player who hasn’t done that. So, to me, Toney should be on a short leash as a returner, and if he doesn’t show anything substantial in Week 18, Watson needs to be the guy in the postseason.
Field goals/extra points: Why is holding still an issue?
I’m not sure why, three years into his career, holding the ball on field goals is a problem for punter Tommy Townsend, but here we are. A couple of weeks after former Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt noted that Townsend’s holds are the reason why kicker Harrison Butker has been missing field goals, this happened:
Let Tommy punt. Hire a holder. #tommytownsend #Chiefs #chiefskingdom #nfl pic.twitter.com/pXfdaeZFDm
— BURN & RAVE PODCAST (@burnandravepod) January 1, 2023
Later on, this happened, though it might not have really mattered since the field goal was blocked:
Marked the spot inside the hash, placed the ball outside the hash. pic.twitter.com/Nngww9oTvG
— Kent Swanson (@kent_swanson) January 1, 2023
This issue should have been fixed a long time ago. The onus is on special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who should already have his Pro Bowl punter on the right track by now. If it continues to be a problem, maybe train someone else to hold?
More special teams notes
A few more special teams notes from Week 17:
- Speaking of that field goal block, here’s a closer look:
- The circled player is right tackle Andrew Wylie who allowed Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike to bust through for the block. Wylie is mostly a brick wall on field goal blocking, but it’s not the first time this season that he has let someone through. It is the first FG block allowed by the team this season, though.
- No kick returns for the Chiefs this week — all five were touchbacks. Tight end Blake Bell notably continued to receive snaps on that squad — Bell returned in Week 16 after spending most of the season on injured reserve.
- I’ve been critical of cornerback Trent McDuffie as a jammer on punt returns but he had a good game in Week 17, winning on four out of five returns. I still think CB Joshua Williams might be the better option as a full-time jammer, though.
- No penalties for the Chiefs’ special teams unit in Week 17 — the second week in a row.
