Dave Toub takes blame for mixup before missed field goal against Titans

When Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub spoke to reporters on Friday, he discussed a noticeable error his unit made during Sunday’s 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

During a third-quarter drive, the Kansas City offense was facing a third-and-11 from the Tennessee 29-yard line — but Titans defensive tackle Denico Autry beat Chiefs rookie right guard Trey Smith, sacking quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a 10-yard loss. That brought up fourth down.

Toub said that the sack triggered a communications breakdown between himself and Kansas City head coach Andy Reid.

“In that situation, you are thinking field goal — at least,” explained Toub, “but then [the sack] set you back. Now it’s in that gray area. Is it a go [for a field goal]? Is it not? Do you want to play field position? What do you want to do? Do you want to go for it?

“Those were the three options that we had there. It just wasn’t communicated well enough.”

The breakdown created a lot of confusion. First, the Kansas City punt team took the field. But as the play clock was winding down, the Chiefs decided to try a 57-yard field goal. Placekicker Harrison Butker sprinted onto the field, but there was no longer enough time. The Chiefs were forced to call a timeout to prevent being pushed back even further.

“It was my fault,” admitted Toub. “I didn’t communicate well enough with Andy; that was my fault. I sent the punt team out and then we switched. It was too much time — and then [we] called a timeout. So that’s where that went with that.”

But Toub said that he had learned his lesson.

“We won’t make that mistake again,” he declared.

To pour salt in the wound, Butker missed the field goal — leaving the score at 27-3 and further decreasing the team’s opportunity for a comeback.

Following an up-and-down 2020 campaign, Butker had been perfect on the season, connecting on all 23 extra-point tries and all seven field-goal attempts — including two from over 50 yards.

Toub said that despite all the confusion, he had been confident that his placekicker could make it.

“Our line was right around there,” he said of the pregame discussion with Butker about how far away he could be for a successful attempt. “Wherever that spot is, I’m confident that he can make it; he’s confident that he can make it. It just didn’t happen. It was his first miss. No one is more upset than he is; he’s so hard on himself.

“But he’ll bounce back and make the next one.”