The successful kick was no small feat for Butker, who injured his left ankle during a kickoff early in the game. The injury forced the veteran kicker to miss much of the first half, thrusting safety Justin Reid – who connected on an extra point try during the preseason – into duty. Reid was successful, too, converting 1-of-2 extra point tries while also handling the game’s remaining kickoffs.
“I had a ton of fun out there,” said Justin Reid. “It brought me back to my high school days…I always wanted to put it on tape to let people know that I really can kick. It’s out there now, and it’ll be out there forever.”
The Chiefs went on to continue the momentum ignited by Butker’s 54-yard boot following halftime, scoring touchdowns on three consecutive possessions while holding Arizona scoreless until early in the fourth quarter. Tight end Jody Fortson, wide receiver Mecole Hardman and tailback Isiah Pacheco were each responsible for a trip to the end zone as part of an effort that piled up 488 net yards of offense and went 6-for-6 in the red zone.
“The guys were just ready to go,” Mahomes said. “They were excited to get out there and show what we have. All offseason, people have asked us what this team was going to look like. We’ve always believed that we were going to go out there and put on a show, and I thought the guys did that.”
Kansas City’s defense, meanwhile, continued to frustrate the Cardinals’ offensive attack throughout the game. Arizona went just 3-of-12 on third down and punted five times. To further illustrate the Chiefs’ defensive dominance, Mahomes recorded more passing yards (360) than Arizona’s overall yardage total (282).
The Chiefs also tallied three sacks in the game and repeatedly harassed Cardinals’ quarterback Kyler Murray, who only accounted for 222 yards of total offense.
“We played OK – we missed a lot of opportunities – but, overall, I thought we got better as a group,” said defensive lineman Chris Jones.
