2022 was a success for the Super Bowl LVII-winning Kansas City Chiefs, and special teams played partial role in that success despite some growing pains during the regular season.
When looking at the Chiefs’ special teams unit as a whole throughout the entirety of 2022, it took a step down compared to 2021. The team’s special teams ranked 16th in Football Outsiders’ special teams DVOA (playoffs included) in 2022, falling far below its second-place ranking in 2021.
So what changed to make the Chiefs go from a top-two squad to the middle of the pack? Several factors contributed to the drop, including:
- Rookies: 11 made the team, with 10 playing significant special teams snaps. Many rookies played well, but there were still growing pains.
- Fumbling issues: The Chiefs fumbled the ball seven times on returns, losing five of them.
- Field goal inconsistency: Injuries at the kicker position plus alleged holding issues led to inconsistency with field goals for most of the season.
- Uncertainty at punt returner: The Chiefs used four different punt returners before settling on one as the team’s go-to guy.
Despite the initial challenges, the Chiefs’ special teams unit pulled it together and performed well down the stretch, especially during the postseason. It even had a few plays that were difference-makers in the Chiefs winning the AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl.
With the 2022 season at a close, this final review will detail the performance of each Chiefs special teams subunit. All stats listed below cover the regular season and postseason (20 games total) unless noted. For snap counts, full player grades and more detailed stats, visit my Google Sheet and browse each of the tabs.