Veteran kicker Harrison Butker had a rough night in the Kansas City Chiefs’ 20-3 Week 7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. He made just 1 of 3 field goal attempts, missing a 58-yard kick just before halftime and a 45-yard attempt in the fourth quarter.

Those misses frustrated Chiefs fans, and Andy Reid didn’t exactly win them over after the game. The head honcho stood by Butker despite his costly mistakes in Kansas City’s first loss of the season, drawing backlash online.

Andy Reid Slammed for Defending Harrison Butker

In his postgame presser, Reid stood up for his veteran kicker while acknowledging that Butker hasn’t been at his best this season.

“He’s been one of the most consistent kickers in football. He’s off a bit,” Reid said.

That explanation didn’t sit well with some fans, who weren’t in the mood to cut Butker any slack. One fan even suggested the Chiefs leave the kicker behind.

“Leave him in Seattle,”the user on X wrote.

Another fan questioned the coach for shielding the veteran kicker. “Whatever happened to accountability?” they asked.

One user had enough of Butker’s struggles and called on Reid to cut the kicker.

“Cut him! Come on, Andy,” they urged.

Another fan was even harsher in their assessment of Butker’s struggles.

“That’s the issue with this team. Stop holding on to the past. Butker was good, but not anymore. Everyone in this organization just gives PR responses instead of addressing the issue,” the fan declared.

“He sucked last year and sucks this year is not just off,”a fifth fan posted.

Through the first six games of the season, Butker has made 11 of 16 field goal attempts, including just 2 of 6 from 50-plus yards. His PFN Kicker Impact Score of 64.2 ranks No. 25 in the NFL. He has also missed more kicks than any other kicker in the league since last season, with 10 missed field goals and five missed PATs.

After Sunday’s loss, Butker acknowledged that his warm-ups hadn’t gone well but said he still has the confidence of special teams coordinator Dave Toub.

“Warm-up wasn’t great. It’s just something that you have to roll with and try to fix it in the game and do the best that you can,” Butker said.

Despite his recent struggles, Butker remains one of the most accurate kickers in NFL history, having made 87.3% of his career field goal attempts. Butker starred in college at Georgia Tech before the Carolina Panthers selected him No. 233 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.

After Carolina waived him, he joined the Chiefs and went on to establish himself as one of the league’s top kickers. He led the NFL in scoring at his position in 2019 and has delivered several clutch kicks in the postseason. Butker, of course, has also won three Super Bowls with Kansas City.

As expected, not everyone was ready to write off the Chiefs after their first loss of the season. In an instant-reaction video, PFN’s Jacob Infante pushed back against the panic surrounding the team.

“Now that they’re no longer undefeated, is it time to hit the panic button? Short answer is, no,” Infante said.

Infante pointed to Seattle’s dominant defense and home-field advantage as reasons not to overreact, arguing that the Chiefs remain legitimate Super Bowl contenders.

And while Butker struggled against the Seahawks, he showed off his range in preseason, making a 69-yard field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The kick would have broken Cam Little’s NFL record, had it come in a regular-season game.