Dave Toub blamed for confusion ahead of missed placement against Titans

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When Kansas City Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub spoke to reporters on Friday, he referred to a notable mistake his unit made in Sunday’s 27-3 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

© Photo by Brett Carlsen / Getty Images

During a third quarter practice, the Kansas City offense faced a third and 11 off the Tennessee 29-yard line – but Titans defensive tackle Denico Autry beat Chiefs rookie right guard Trey Smith , sacking quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a 10-yard loss. It brought the fourth down.

Toub said the sacking sparked a communication breakdown between him and Kansas City head coach Andy Reid.

“In this situation, you think objective on the pitch – at least,” explained Toub, “but then [the sack] push you back. Now it’s in that gray area. Is this a go [for a field goal]? Is not it? Do you want to play on the field? What do you want to do? Do you want to go there?

“Those are the three options we had there. It just wasn’t communicated well enough.

The blackout created a lot of confusion. First, the Kansas City punt team took the field. But as the playing time drew to a close, the Chiefs decided to take a 57-yard field goal. Placekicker Harrison Butker sprinted down the field, but there was no time left. The Chiefs were forced to call a time out to avoid being pushed back even further.

“It was my fault,” admitted Toub. “I wasn’t communicating well enough with Andy; it was my fault. I sent the punt team, then we traded. It was too long – and then [we] called a timeout. So that’s where it happened with it.

But Toub said he had learned his lesson.

“We will not make this mistake again,” he said.

To pour salt into the wound, Butker missed the field – leaving the score at 27-3 and further diminishing the team’s chances of coming back.

After a top-down 2020 campaign, Butker had been perfect on the season, connecting on all 23 extra point tries and seven field goal attempts – including two from over 50 yards.

Toub said that despite all the confusion, he was convinced his kicker could make it happen.

“Our line was right there,” he said of the pre-game discussion with Butker about how far he could be for a successful attempt. “Wherever this place is, I have no doubts that it can do it; he is convinced he can do it. It just didn’t happen. It was his first failure. No one is more upset than him; he’s so hard on himself.

“But he’s going to bounce back and do the next one.”

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