The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and part of the reason for that was the consistency of kicker Matt Prater.
A good kicker is hard to come by in today’s NFL, as one of the themes of this season has been the inconsistent kicking all across the league. Thankfully for the Detroit Lions, they can count on kicker Matt Prater to consistently deliver.
There were many reasons why the Detroit Lions were able to beat the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday. The offense was balanced and garnered a lot of big plays, while the defense was able to force three fumbles out of the Green Bay offense.
But the biggest storyline that will be talked about when mentioning this game will be the special teams, as Green Bay’s veteran kicker Mason Crosby missed a career-high four field goals and an extra point.
The math is pretty simple: the Lions beat the Packers 31-23. But if Crosby makes three of those four field goals, Detroit would be heading into the bye week with a pathetic 1-4 start to a dreary season.
And while Crosby struggled to find the middle of the uprights today, it was business as usual for Lions kicker Matt Prater. Also, he did miss one of his field goals today, he also made a 39-yarder and made all four of his extra points, doing his part to help the Lions get a victory in this must-win NFC North matchup.
Baltimore’s Justin Tucker, New England’s Stephen Gostkowski, and Indianapolis’ Adam Vinatieri are often the first kickers mentioned when discussing the elite kickers in today’s NFL. But when it comes to consistency, Detroit’s Matt Prater is not far off from those future Hall of Famers.
With the make on Sunday, Prater improves to 9-12 on field goals this season, good enough to make him a top-ten kicker in this league statistically.
Based on Prater’s career numbers, 2018 has sort of been a down year by his standards. The 12-year NFL veteran has been a symbol of consistency, hitting 83.3 percent of his career field goals as well as 98 percent of his extra point attempts.
Prater has posted one of the best kicking seasons in the history of the NFL, as in 2013 in Denver, he made 96.2 percent of his field goals (25/26) and hit 100 percent of his 75 extra point attempts. These numbers earned him a 2013 Pro Bowl nod.
And while Prater hasn’t been exactly as elite in Detroit as he was Denver, he has still been able to be counted upon to make kicks and has delivered when it matters.
In his time in the Honolulu Blue, Prater has been great for the Lions, hitting more than 85 percent of his field goals and more than 95 percent of his extra points for Motor City.
2016 was arguably Prater’s best year with the Lions. Mighty Matt only missed five field goals this entire season, going 7-7 on kicks of 50 yards or more and earning the second Pro Bowl appearance of his career.
On a team that has been a glowing example of inconsistency in the NFL, Prater has been a beacon of hope and someone to be counted on if drives get stalled in the opponent’s territory.
In today’s NFL, it’s getting harder to find good kickers who can consistently hit long kicks and deliver in high-pressure situations.
Thankfully for the Lions, they have one of those few consistent kickers in Prater. It’s hard to tell how good this team can be this year, but one thing’s for certain: Prater is going to get his job done and is very unlikely to have a historically bad day like Crosby had yesterday.