NEW ORLEANS — Field goals, those both made and missed, are never bigger than in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs‘ Harrison Butker and the Eagles‘ Jake Elliott know this as well as anyone.
Sunday’s showdown will be the first in the game’s 59-year run to feature two kickers with at least two games of Super Bowl experience, which can help alleviate the potential jitters that come with such a huge platform.
“I think the actual game itself is the same, whether it’s the first one or, I don’t know, the sixth,” said Butker, already with 21 career playoff games under his belt. “But it’s helped keep my nerves calm during that two-week buildup, because especially that first Super Bowl, there’s a lot of nerves and anxiety going into it. It’s easy to think it’s going to be bigger than a normal game, but now I know once the ball’s kicked off and the game starts, it’ll just be a normal game.”
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It’s actually Butker’s fifth Super Bowl, but with all the Chiefs’ recent success, he can be forgiven for losing count. It’ll be the third for Elliott, who went to the Super Bowl as a rookie in 2018, kicking three field goals — two in the fourth quarter — in Philadelphia’s 41-33 win over the Patriots.
“It’s definitely important to be able to call on those experiences, especially for the process of how this week goes,” Elliott said. “There are different changes in the schedule, so it’s being comfortable in the uncomfortable and knowing what to expect that’s important.”
The two kickers squared off on the biggest stage two years ago in Arizona, and Elliott made all five of his kicks while Butker missed one. But it was Butker who came through with a 27-yard field goal as time expired for a 38-35 Chiefs victory.
Butker already has more Super Bowl field goals than any other kicker in history. His nine tops two longtime Patriots kickers in Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski, who had seven each. Elliott is tied for fourth with five. Butker’s consistency — 9-for-10 on Super Bowl field goals — is a source of confidence for the Chiefs, who are loaded with Super Bowl experience.
“It’s huge for us,” said special teams coordinator Dave Toub. “I feel like it’s a big advantage. It’s a comfort for the whole team, because he’s made so many kicks in these kinds of situations.”
What’s curious about both kickers is that if Sunday’s game comes down to a long field goal, that isn’t necessarily a strength for either these days. Both are remarkably accurate inside the 50: Butker is 23-for-24 on such kicks this season, including the playoffs, and Elliott is 33-for-35. But on kicks from 50 and longer, Butker is just 2-for-5, and Elliott is 1-for-8.
Elliott made a 53-yard kick in his first career playoff game in 2017 but hasn’t made one from 50 or longer since, and he has attempted only one such kick in his past 13 playoff games. Butker wasn’t great on long kicks in 2024, but his playoff history is strong, going 6-for-7 on 50-plus field goals in his career.
The spectacle of the Super Bowl can be distracting, but Elliott said the actual rhythm of the game is different, with a longer halftime and more commercial breaks, so what is normally a three-hour event is stretched out longer. The intensity of the crowd throughout the game can make a stadium you’ve kicked in feel like a different building in a Super Bowl.
The two kickers have a lot in common. Elliott turned 30 two weeks ago, Butker turns 30 in July, and both came into the league in 2017. Both started their careers with other teams (Butker with the Panthers, Elliott with the Bengals) and were cut as rookies. They latched on with their current teams and have stayed with them for eight full seasons.
They are the two highest-paid kickers in the NFL, both on four-year deals, with Butker earning $6.4 million a year and Elliott making $6 million per. And by coincidence, they ran into each other in Arizona this past offseason when their families were both vacationing there.
They’ll also share the same simple approach on Sunday, trying to ignore the circus around them to focus on the normalcy of their jobs, with the same snapper and holder, putting the ball through the same uprights for the same points.
“We’re at our best,” Butker said, “when we’re focused on executing and doing what we’ve done a thousand times.”
Said Elliott: “I try to make it as normal as possible. I know it’s not. I’m going to stick to my process on the sideline, the same mental approach, so if the situation arises, I’m ready for it.”
Both kickers will need to be on point. The Chiefs have been so consistent in playing and winning close games all season that Sunday’s game could very well come down to a single kick. Kansas City has gone 6-0 in games decided by three points or fewer this season, while the Eagles are 1-2. Again, both kickers will try not to think about that Sunday, or the enormity of the game and the history on the line.
“I don’t know if there’s more of a weight, but there’s an added level of preparation for every game, knowing that these games are closer than ever,” Butker said. “When they are close like that, an extra point, a field goal, they just matter a lot.”
Greg Auman is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports. He previously spent a decade covering the Buccaneers for the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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