There are nine games in the books — with eight more to go. The Kansas City Chiefs are taking their bye week in Week 10, so it’s a good time to dish out some midseason awards.

The Arrowhead Pride writing staff members each had one vote for our seven midseason awards. There are 17 contributors voting, so there will be 17 votes tallied for each award. In this post, we’ll reveal our special teams MVP to this point of the season.

K HARRISON BUTKER

Photo by Arne Dedert/picture alliance via Getty Images

VOTING: K Harrison Butker (17)

As fans seek consistency from the Kansas City Chiefs offense in 2023 to match the team’s defensive prowess, there’s been a level of consistency that has almost gone unnoticed on special teams that really needs to be recognized.

During the 2022 regular season, Harrison Butker’s performances had fans scratching their heads trying to dissect whether the somewhat unnatural issues in his kicking game were down to his technique, injuries or the ball holder. Whatever the reason, he still completed 18 of 24 attempts in the 2022 regular season, resulting in 80% — very respectable indeed.

Now, I’m not saying Butker’s season was hindering Kansas City’s ability to win games. Actually, it was the contrary. Butker nailed a 62-yard field goal against the Buffalo Bills in his first game back from injury, setting a franchise record for the longest field goal at Arrowhead, and how can we forget the hugely important field goal against the Bengals in the AFC Championship game to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl? He finished the season with the game-winning kick in the Super Bowl.

The point is that even through some difficult times last season, Butker was clutch when it mattered most.

As the Chiefs head into a well-earned bye week in 2023, all the talk is about how good the defense is playing, but spare a thought for special teams and, more importantly, how well Butker has played so far this season.

I don’t use the word “flawless” all too often, but this is the only word to describe how dominant the Chiefs placekicker has been at the midway point this season. At the bye week, Butker is 18 for 18 when it comes to field goals and is 19 for 19 for extra points made. His longest field goal this season of 60 yards was achieved in the Week 6 matchup against the Denver Broncos. Butker’s efforts have so far accumulated 73 points alone this season.

With the Chiefs’ offense still finding its identity, it’s reassuring to know that they have the defense and special teams covering their backs, especially when your place kicker has a 100% record across the board.

Butker has already matched last season’s field goal completion total (18) in just 9 games, further emphasizing how important the Offense relies on his points-scoring ability while they steady the ship. Granted, Butker only played 13 season games last year due to injury, but still, matching that total in just nine games is impressive.

It’s no surprise the Arrowhead Pride judging panel had an easy decision to make, unanimously awarding midseason “Special Teams MVP” to Harrison Butker.