Chiefs dealt stunning Harrison Butker news, undefeated season in danger

The Kansas City Chiefs have been living a charmed life in 2024. It's not just that they've found ways to win by the skin of their teeth, staying undefeated. It's that they've gone into every game without any kicking anxiety. There's been a sense of security with Harrison Butker handling kicks. That security is now gone.

Butker will miss at least four weeks of action because of a meniscus injury. He is due to undergo a knee scope and head to IR.

Considering the fact that two of Kansas City's nine victories came directly off Butker's foot, that's a problem.

Chiefs need a new kicker: Who is Harrison Butker's backup?

The Chiefs signed Spencer Shrader from the Jets practice squad to fill Butker's spot on the roster.

The good news? Shrader has hit 100 percent of his career kicks in the NFL.

The bad news? He's only attempted two field goals and three PATs.

The jury is still out on how reliable Shrader will be as an NFL kicker. The available data could be worse at least.

His college numbers don't exactly jump out. In four years with South Florida, he hit 99 percent of his PATs but only 68.4 percent of his 41 field goal attempts. He was rather consistent though. After transfering to Notre Dame, he hit 68.3 percent of his field goals and 98.4 percent of his PATs.

The goal for the Chiefs is to avoid testing Shrader. Maybe he can make the winning kick. Maybe he can't. The best-case scenario is not needing three points late to win.

That'll be easier said than done this weekend. Kansas City is heading to Buffalo to take on the Bills in a heavyweight showdown. Games against the Panthers in North Carolina and the Raiders back home in Missouri should be more manageable. Then it may just be seeing off the Chargers at home to make it through Butker's absence unscathed.