It's hard to go directly to nitpicking after a win, especially for a team that returned from the bye and improved to a perfect 5-0. If there's one thing the Kansas City Chiefs have shown through five games, however, it's that multiple areas of the team are imperfect as the season's midpoint draws near.

For every instance in which the Chiefs' dominance of old has flashed, there's been a reminder or two that this is a new era. There's no greater example of that than the roller coaster ride that is the play of kicker Harrison Butker.

With data mounting that this is a new era for Butker as well, should that come with new expectations? It's clear that he isn't the same player right now, yet special teams coordinator Dave Toub preaches patience and sample-size variance for the entire special teams unit. Following Sunday's victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, head coach Andy Reid also danced around any Butker-related concerns.

"Butker, he's as consistent as anybody," Reid said. "He had a couple of misses in there, and that's not normally him, so he'll continue to work on that."

It'd be one thing if Kansas City admitted Butker isn't meeting the bar that's been set. A plan to establish more consistency — actual consistency, not the perceived press-conference backing provided by the team — would be a nice first step.

Instead, the club is paying Butker more on a per-year basis ($6.4 million) than all but three kickers in NFL history to provide negative value. Doing so while denying that is even worse.

The three-time Super Bowl champion is now several years removed from his last legitimately good effort. In 2023, he drilled 94.3% of field goals and didn't miss an extra point. In 35 regular-season outings since then, though, those respective accuracy marks are 84.2% and 91.4%. Last year saw the former seventh-round pick finish just 1.2% above the league average on field goals and 7.3% worse on PATs.

Following the Chargers game, Butker's missed one extra point in 2026 and is sporting an ugly 76.9% conversion clip on field goals. According to Pro Football Focus, his average starting field position on kickoffs (30.2 yards) is 18th out of 33 kickers with five or more tries. Last year, his 30.3 figure sat 26th among 44 players with double-digit kicks. That does, in fairness, have something to do with coverage.

There's also the question of long-range kicking. Something that was once a calling card for Butker has turned into another high-variance component, evidenced by him going 5-for-8 in 2025 and being off to a 1-for-4 start in 2026. The 31-year-old can still be relied upon to have a clutch gene, which is a damn good plus to have in the toolbox, but the positive traits are dwindling.

He was erratic on other kicks this preseason, too, which was followed by Reid saying he'll "learn from it and move on" and "make an adjustment."

Butker has been through a similar stretch before, connecting on 76.9% of field goals and 84.6% of point-afters entering Week 6 of 2025 and finishing the year strong. That doesn't mean it didn't impact him, as he admitted in June:

"I think when you start the season off with misses, your back's kind of against the wall [and] mentally, it kind of takes a toll on you," Butker said. "It's just not great. I climbed out of it; I finished the season, I think I was above middle-of-the-pack. Obviously, you don't even want to be there, but you don't want to start out the season missing as much."

Butker is held in too high of regard and making too much money to be an up-and-down player at best and a diminished version of himself at worst. An in-season change is mostly unrealistic, although the Chiefs coming to terms with their current reality and future salary cap flexibility shouldn't be. The glory days of not having to question whether KC had an elite kicker are over.

Now, both the team and those watching it should be questioning whether Butker's even good anymore.