The best punters are so much more than just brokers exchanging possession of the football. They can be weapons who completely flip the field, and at least so far this season, nobody has been better than Kansas City Chiefs' punter Tommy Townsend.
Townsend was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month on Thursday after the third-year punter averaged a league-best 49.5 net yards on his 11 punts to begin the season. He dropped five of those punts inside the 20-yard line, including a 74-yard boot in Week 2. The Chiefs never want to punt, but when called upon, Townsend has routinely delivered.
This marks the second time in Townsend's young career that he has won the award, making him the only punter in franchise history to do so multiple times. He joins kicker Harrison Butker (three times) and return man Tamarick Vanover (twice) as the only players in Chiefs' history to earn the honor more than once.
Townsend will now look to keep that strong performance going this weekend as the Chiefs aim to get back in the win column against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
