Butker, Chiefs boot ’Skins
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After Harrison Butker missed the first field-goal attempt of his NFL career, Chiefs coach Andy Reid walked over to the rookie and prepared to instill a little bit of confidence.
“He said, ‘I got it. I got it. I was just off a tad,’ ” Reid recalled of their brief exchange. “He kind of gives you that feeling that everything’s going to be OK.”
Better than just “OK.”
Butker responded to his first-half miss Monday night by drilling three field goals in the second half, the last a go-ahead 43-yarder with eight seconds remaining that helped Kansas City beat the Washington Redskins 29-20 and remain the only unbeaten team in the NFL.
“I didn’t have butterflies. I felt confident,” said Butker, who was claimed off the Carolina practice squad to replace injured kicker Cairo Santos. “I knew it was going to come down to a field goal. I felt pretty calm. I was excited; I wasn’t nervous.”
The Chiefs (4-0) put an exclamation point on the win when linebacker Justin Houston picked up a fumble as the Redskins (3-2) were trying to keep the game alive and returned it for a game-ending touchdown.
The Chiefs were 7-point favorites and the total was 48. The improbable ending gave Kansas City bettors a miracle cover and also pushed the number over the total. Redskins and under bettors suffered an epic bad beat.
Las Vegas sports books also lost on the play as the betting public backed the Chiefs and over.
“That was a huge four-second swing,” Westgate sports book director Jay Kornegay said. “On ‘Monday Night Football,’ we needed the ‘dog and under and that’s exactly what we had with four seconds to go.
“It was one of those fluky bounces. I still don’t understand why teams don’t just try the Hail Mary instead of eight laterals. The odds of doing that are probably a lot better than doing eight laterals.”
The last time there was only one unbeaten team through the first four weeks of the season was 2010, when the Chiefs were the final team standing. They went on to win the AFC West.
“I mean, it’s the NFL.
It’s any given Sunday for a reason,” said Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who had seven catches for 111 yards and a score. “All these teams are scheming everybody up. It’s a testament to this team for especially not only being 4-0, but the way we’ve won.”
Alex Smith threw for 293 yards with touchdowns on the ground and through the air, and his 37-yard strike to Albert Wilson on a broken play that set up Butker’s go-ahead kick. Kareem Hunt added 101 yards on the ground for the rookie’s fourth straight 100yard effort.
Las Vegas Review-journal reporter Todd Dewey contributed to this report.