Getty Matt Prater celebrates his winning kick with Tyrell Crosby
Matt Prater has been involved in a competition to see if he can deliver the city of Detroit free beer, and on Sunday he fired a very powerful midseason salvo for the Detroit Lions.
Prater managed to get himself a kick from distance and drill it that might be hard for Denver kicker Brandon McManus to match. McManus has a long of 56 yards this year and was leading the contest to see which kicker can drill the longest field goal to win his city free beer. Now, Prater has him by 3 yards midseason which is quite an accomplishment.
In fact, as noted Lions fan Evan Fox from the Pat McAfee Show said, it’s possible that moving forward, the most important accomplishment the Lions can have is Prater winning the free beer for Detroit.
Winning free beer for the city of Detroit might be the greatest accomplishment in franchise history for the Lions… Shoutout @MattPrater_5 & @budlight #ForTheBrand @PatMcAfeeShow
Fox said:
“The most important thing in that game, is now Matt Prater has the 59 yard field goal and we are beating Brandon McManus for free beer for the city of Detroit.”
The 4-5 Lions are on the periphery of the playoff hunt, but most realists feel like the team is probably not heading for the postseason this year no matter how many wins they rack up. In that case, Prater’s push to secure free Bud Light for the Motor City becomes the most important thing to watch. It’s not comforting to know McManus has the thin air of Colorado to boost him down the stretch.
Can Prater deliver in the end? It would obviously be spectacular if he could..
Matt Prater 2020 Stats
This season, one of the strangest anomalies of the year has been Prater’s erratic nature from deep kicks. He hadn’t managed to make many deep kicks and had missed plenty of long attempts. That all ended last Sunday, as Prater pounded a 53 yard kick as well as the game winning 59 yard kick as time expired. For these purposes, the 59 yarder was most significant.
In recent weeks, there had been questions swirling about Prater’s dependability. Even such, Prater is 17-23 on kicks and also has a game winning extra point to his credit.
Matt Prater Kicking for Detroit’s Free Beer in 2020
If fans are extra jumpy and want Prater to hit from distance the rest of the year, there is good reason. This season, Prater and Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus will face off with the promise of free beer from Bud Light on the line. If Prater hits the longest of the pair, Detroit will cash in free beer. If McManus gets the job done, Denver will get the prize.
Credit goes out to the Pat McAfee Show for setting this whole thing in motion. The original offer was free beer for Denver if McManus broke Prater’s record for a 64 yard field goal as longest in NFL history, but as McAfee said, Prater needed his chance to answer given he is the current record holder. The show had originally propositioned Coors Light to offer Detroit free beer if the Lions got into the playoffs, but with this friendly competition, Bud Light managed to spice things up even more. Fans will be able to keep up week to week to see who is ahead while rooting for their guy.
As for who has the edge, it’s tough to say. McManus has the thin air of the Rocky Mountains to help aid him and his strong leg, and Prater has already used that to his benefit in his career. Prater, however, kicks the majority of games in a dome, which can allow for some extra length and consistency. That was the case this week.
This kick could get Lions fans and Prater in the money for beer. McManus has a long kick of 56 yards so far this year, and now, Prater has him by 3 yards. The battle continues moving forward, and it might be more thrilling than the playoff push.
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