The Kansas City Chiefs special teams unit has been guided by the watchful eye of coordinator Dave Toub.
Under his tutelage, third-year P Tommy Townsend was named the AFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against the Texans. It was his third career Player of the Week award, extending his streak of the most by a Chiefs punter. The veteran coach had plenty to say about Townsend in comments to the media on Wednesday.
Asked which of Townsend’s qualities gives the Chiefs the biggest edge on special teams, Toub told reporters that it boiled down to just one thing.
“Consistency,” Toub said. “I mean when I first stood up here in the beginning of the season everybody said, ‘What’s going to be the difference with Tommy this year?’ It’s his consistency because we’ve seen flashes of him being great, but his consistency is what really stands out this year.
“You look at his charts and his grades that I have on my board and it’s just above average all the way across (the board) and you know if not that, he’s getting (AFC) Special Teams Player of the Week which is probably the greatest honor somebody can get and he’s gotten it for the month too with September (AFC Special Teams Player of the Month) so it says a lot about his year. He’s had a Pro Bowl year, and he’s been a major factor for us on special teams this year.”
Toub’s quote on Townsend would end up being a hint of things to come later in the day, as the punter was named as the AFC’s Pro Bowl Games representative at his position on Wednesday night. A worthy selection, Townsend has had an absolutely marvelous season for Kansas City in 2022 and looks to be settling into his role as longtime Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt’s permanent replacement following his departure from the team in 2019.
