Snap, hold and kick: Chiefs’ specialists break down process of a successful field goal

The last two Super Bowls have been decided by three points, including last year when Harrison Butker’s 27-yard field goal gave the Chiefs a 38-35 win over the Eagles.

A successful field goal is as simple as 1-2-3, right? It’s snap, hold and kick, but as any football fan can attest, plenty of things can go wrong.

The entire process lasts just a touch over one second, although the ball flies through the air for much longer after Butker kicks it. But each step is crucial to the success of the kick. Here’s a closer look at the process.

The Snap

Long snapper James Winchester has a routine he follows for every kick.

“I get in my stance, get down on the ball, right hand (on the ball), then left hand, then kind of straighten the elbows out and then drop my head to look at Tommy (Townsend, the holder),” Winchester said. “And at that point usually Tommy’s looking back at Harrison and he goes down to the spot, up to me, and then I’m aiming at that hand right there.”

Location, location and location is big in real estate. For Winchester, location is just one of three keys to a successful snap.

“Mine is location and laces and throwing a tight ball. That’s the goal on every single snap and you train in the offseason and season so that lines up, and it’s perfect,” Winchester said.

The Hold

Townsend’s role in a successful field goal involves catching the ball, putting it down and spinning the laces away from Butker’s foot if needed.

“Honestly, when it comes to extra points and field goals, it’s just all reaction because a full operation field goal takes 1.25 seconds,” said Townsend, the Chiefs’ punter. “The snap is getting in my hand in, shoot, probably less than half a second. So as soon as the ball is snapped, it’s just reaction.”

Townsend’s part of the field-goal equation is kind of like a car accident.

“As soon as I catch the ball, it happens very fast but it happens in slow motion as well,” Townsend said. “So I can’t really track the laces coming back to me, but it seems like when I catch the ball, I can feel the laces on my hands and where they are. I just kind of know subconsciously where I have to spin the ball. If I put it down, I have to spin the laces around to the outside. Or if I have to catch it, put it down and spin on the inside. It’s just all reactionary at this point.”

The Kick

Butker has been one of the NFL’s most successful kickers since the Chiefs signed him off the Panthers’ practice squad in 2017. No matter if it’s a 20-yard field-goal attempt in a preseason game or last year’s Super Bowl winner, Butker keeps the same mind-set.

“I try to stay higher level with it (and) focus on, I guess, the bigger picture things. I don’t really say what those things are, and it’s probably different for every kicker what they need to focus on,” Butker said. “But I have a couple of cues that just continually go through my head, and it helps me when I get to a big pressure moment to just stay calm and within myself and do what I need to do, but I try to make every kick a big kick.

“So even in my practice kicks, I’m going through all my mental cues, my warmup kicks before the game I’m doing the same thing. So that when there is a lot of crowd noise and you’ve got to have the kick, I can just focus on those couple of things and do my job to the best of my ability.”