Chiefs’ Byron Pringle NFL’s 2nd-fastest ball-carrier in Week 17 on negated kick return TD
A play that didn’t end up happening in the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Cincinnati Bengals game recorded the 2nd-fastest speed by an NFL ball-carrier in Week 17.
Chiefs WR Byron Pringle hit an 89-yard kick return touchdown in the second quarter of the game, blowing past the Bengals’ special teams unit for what would have been his 2nd-career kick return for a touchdown. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, a holding penalty on rookie DB Zayne Anderson saw the play called back.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub raved about the play by Pringle and his kick return unit.
“He had great effort. He hit that thing so fast,” Toub said. “We do that GPS deal where we check to see how fast he was – his top speed on that play was 21.43 miles per hour. I think it was like our second fastest play of the year, so I was happy the way he hit it. He came through there strong, and I just felt bad for him when it got called back. It’s a shame. It was such a great effort by a lot of players on the field.”
By our research, Toub seems to be mistaken about Pringle’s top speed in his comments. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Pringle hit 21.13 MPH on the play. That number was was good for the 2nd-fastest speed by an NFL ball-carrier during Week 17 to only Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase’s 72-yard catch-and-run touchdown earlier in the game. It was also the 2nd-fastest speed by a Chiefs ball-carrier this season. Tyreek Hill hit 21.42 MPH on his 33-yard rushing touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 11 for the top spot per Next Gen Stats.
As impressive as the play by Pringle was, it did get called back due to a penalty that happened away from the play. Toub didn’t contest the call, but he also seems to think it just as easily could’ve been waved off by the officials. Unfortunately, what should have been a positive game-altering play for the KC gave Cincinnati the life they needed to mount a comeback.
“As far as the call, I see what the officials saw,” Toub said. “You could see it from the endzone. Zayne was getting overpowered. He was actually holding onto the guy and it appeared that he pulled the guy on top of him. I see what they saw, it was at the point of attack. I’ve also seen that call not be called. Either way, it went against us. It’s just a shame that it went against us because I really believe if we would’ve scored right there before the half, it would’ve kind of shut the door on them a little bit. It actually gave them life.”
The tease of having a touchdown return negated has left Toub’s unit hungry heading into Week 18’s showdown with the Broncos. He says they’re looking to get another one this week in Denver, which was actually the location and team that Kansas City faced on Pringle’s 102-yard kick return touchdown in 2020.
“We just have to get one this week, that’s the way we look at it,” Toub said. “We have a lot of football still in front of us and there’s more plays out there for us.”
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