Getty Matt Prater kicks the winning field goal for Detroit.
The Detroit Lions won a game based on the strength of Matt Prater’s usually reliable leg on Sunday, and as a result, Prater gets a little more hardware.
This week, Prater was named the NFC’s Special Teams Player of the Week for his kicking exploits against the Arizona Cardinals. Prater was 4-4 in the game on kicks, including the game winning 39 yard field goal which sailed through the uprights with exactly no time remaining on the clock and provided the Lions a 26-23 win.
Your NFC Special Teams Player of the Week @MattPrater_5‼️
This season, Prater has struggled the first few weeks from long distance missing a few field goals from 55 yards and beyond. Even in spite of that, he has managed to remain consistent with regards to shorter field goals as well as extra points. In this game, he managed to once again look like one of the best weapons in the league.
It is the 11th time in Prater’s career he has been given this award, including the 6th time in his Detroit career.
Matt Prater Kicking for Detroit’s Free Beer in 2020
If fans are extra jumpy and want Prater to hit from distance, 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.
So far, Prater hasn’t had the long field goals fans have been accustomed to, but it’s a long season and by claiming this early award, he shows he’s ready for the grind of the competition.
Jack Fox Rated NFL’s Best Punter
Not only is the kicking elite for the Lions, but the punting as well. Fox has been dominant thus far for the Lions, and he is far and away the best punter in the league so far according to Pro Football Focus metrics. A recent look at those metrics found Fox essentially running away with the top punter title early on in the 2020 season.
Fox has shown off in a big way this season with leg strength as well as accuracy. Against the Arizona Cardinals, his punt pinned the team deep in their own territory late which allowed Detroit a chance to flip field position and eventually tie the game. Fox nearly had another superb pin, but Detroit’s gunner was ruled to have been in the end zone, nullifying the kick.
Fox has been everything a young punter needs to be, and hasn’t shown any jitters at all with the leg, which has been amazing to note. Certainly, the Lions are in good hands with Fox and Prater doing their kicking.
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Lions’ Matt Prater Takes Home Key Special Teams Award