Detroit Lions: Top 5 Matt Prater moments in Motown

3. 58-yarder outdoors to stun the Vikings and force OT

25 seconds, no timeouts. This is still one of Matthew Stafford’s most implausible comeback drives. Like so many Stafford comebacks, he was aided largely by having a placekicker in his back pocket whose physical laws regarding distance and pressure just don’t quite seem to apply as they do to others.

58 yards, outdoors in Minnesota. In November. This is still one of Matt Prater’s most implausible last second kicks. Coming just seconds after a backbreaking touchdown drive that gave Minnesota its first lead of the day, two passes from Stafford chewed up a quick 35 yards to place the ball just on the outskirts of field goal range with two seconds left.

Swinging his leg from the top of the Viking logo’s braid at midfield, Prater not only connected from 58 yards out, but his kick cleared the crossbar by an additional five or six yards. This wasn’t Prater’s career long, or even one of his first couple clutch kicks (he had plenty in Denver during Tebowmania, and a few already in Detroit), but this kick in particular is what elevated Prater to another level in my mind.

58 yards, outdoors in Minnesota. At the final whistle. Listening to this game on the radio, I remember the stunned silence at U.S Bank Field. The Lions got the ball first in overtime, Eric Ebron made a big catch on third down, and Golden Tate tiptoed down the sidelines and front flipped into the end zone for a walk off 22-16 win.

Game highlights HERE