The Kansas City Chiefs escaped Week 6 with a 22-6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, but the game was far from flawless. Kansas City made nearly every mistake it could. The Chiefs turned the ball over twice in the red zone, committed several defensive penalties that extended drives, and saw a defensive player ejected.

Then there were the special teams issues. Return specialist Nikko Remigio fumbled on a punt return, and K Harrison Butker missed both a field goal and an extra point. The Chiefs still won by 16 points, which might tell you more about the Chargers than anything else. Still, Kansas City is coming off a bye week. They’re supposed to be sharp, but they weren’t. The special teams problems seem to be the one constant.

Andy Reid defends Nikko Remigio and Harrison Butker after Week 6 win

Speaking to reporters after the game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid emphasized that the team made mistakes and has work to do in every phase of the game. He also defended his two specialists after a rough afternoon on special teams.

“But all in all, in the special teams, (Nikko) Remigio’s caught the ball and kept the ball in his hands many times, and this was unusual for him to be putting the ball on the ground, but he’s got to fix that. And then, likewise, (Harrison) Butker, he’s as consistent as anybody. He had a couple misses in there, and that’s not normally him. So, he’ll continue to work on that.”

While these specific mistakes are somewhat abnormal, they’re also part of a larger pattern. Special teams has been subpar for Kansas City through the early part of the 2026 NFL season. It hasn’t cost the Chiefs a game yet, but that inconsistency will eventually lead to a situation they can’t escape.

As Reid pointed out, Remigio’s redeeming quality as a return specialist has been his ability to field the ball cleanly and avoid mistakes with it. He doesn’t offer overwhelming explosiveness in the return game. However, he also hasn’t put the team in a position where it needs to worry about turnovers. That’s what made Sunday’s fumble stand out. It was his first fumble lost in his NFL career, but his fourth fumble in the last three seasons.

To Remigio’s credit, he later caught a fair catch while falling to the ground after a Chargers player threw Kristian Fulton into him. That should’ve been a penalty for kick-catch interference, as a player cannot deliberately throw another into the returner after a fair catch has been signaled.

Harrison Butker’s struggles from long distance continue

The other part of this equation is Butker’s inconsistency. Entering Week 6, Butker had missed every field goal attempt from 50 yards and beyond. That put him near the bottom of the league among kickers. Ranking ahead of only the kickers for the Patriots, Broncos, Commanders, Falcons, Saints, Chargers, 49ers, Packers, Rams, and Dolphins.

His long field goal of 46 yards heading into the game was the fourth-shortest long field goal among NFL kickers through five weeks. Butker connected on a 50-yard field goal against the Chargers, but he also missed a 52-yard attempt. That leaves him 1-of-4 on attempts from 50 yards and beyond. He also missed an extra point, which appears to be his first miss of the 2026 season. He missed four during the 2025 NFL season.

To Butker’s credit, the 31-year-old has still been nails from 49 yards and in. His inability to hit from distance has to leave Kansas City somewhat concerned, though. The team likely still has a great deal of trust in Butker, and it will keep extending that trust until it can’t any longer.

Chiefs special teams needs to improve

The question is whether Butker can put these early-season struggles behind him, find his stroke on long field goals, and ratchet up his consistency as the season continues. The Chiefs need him to, because the margin for error won’t always be as wide as it was against a depleted Chargers roster.

What’s painfully apparent through the first five games of the 2026 NFL season is that Dave Toub’s special teams units haven’t been good enough. Reid’s support for Remigio and Butker makes sense given their track records. Still, the kicking game and punt return game both need to tighten up before the Chiefs run into an opponent that will make them pay for those mistakes.