When Matt Prater took the field for the game-winning, 52-yard field goal last Sunday against the Dolphins, the fifth-year kicker approached the kick in the same way he does every attempt. That mindset has worked for him throughout his career, as he has never missed a kick (22-of-22) in his career in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“There’s only as much pressure as you put on yourself,” Prater said after Sunday’s game. “I always know (long snapper) Lonie (Paxton) and (punter/holder) Britton (Colquitt) are going to do their job – I just have to come through and make it.”
Prater is the only player in NFL history to convert every field goal attempted in the fourth quarter (min. 6 att.). Among kickers who entered the league since the 1970 merger, only Nick Folk made more consecutive field goals (24) in the fourth quarter or overtime to begin his career than Prater’s current streak of 22.
“That’s what we do at practice,” Prater said. “They expect me to come through and make the kicks. That’s my job, so I have to come in and make them.”
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: Matt Prater
In my opinion he played even bigger than Tebow because he was able to overcome the fact that he had MISSED two kicks earlier in the game…that can play in the mind of a kicker….
So how do we get him to make field goals not in the 4th quarter or OT?
Congrats to Prater,he is really clutch!!!
Carnage,you always gotta take the cheap shots at Tebow,geesh!!!!
You don’t like him but you always seem to bring his name up!!
Carnage, Give it up, Dude, it was a TEAM WIN! The defense played its heart out, the offense played its heart out and the ST did the same. Stop nitpicking and enjoy a total team effort, the first we have seen in a very long time. Why, how, who, who cares? Everyone did thier jobs when they were called upon with the game on the line. Give credit to everyone and let it go at that.
Total Team Effort!!!!!!!!!!!!
BFE, my answer for that is at the bottom of the previous post. I’m not going to bother reposting it, just my opinion on what needs to be done is all. It is very clear that somewhere in the past this has changed to where a player, no matter the position, has to come out of college and play like a three or four year pro.
Credit has to be given to the team, that was as together as I’ve seen them play going back a couple years, even if it was just for 5 minutes, hopefully that’s just the start of things to come.
Congrats to Matt Prater who came thru when the Team needed him most – clutch time !!!
Way to go Prater!!!!
GO BRONCOS!!!!!
That’s right – it was a TEAM effort.
Special Teams & Prater contributed when called upon!
how was that a shot at Tebow….my goodness do folks sleep in their Tebow pajamas or something….everyone has been saying how big Tebow played…I said “he played bigger than Tebow” because he had to overcome missing those field goals and that gets in a kickers head….tell me where the shot at Tebow was.
I think I gave credit to the guy for overcoming something that often plagues kickers…you see it all the time that when a kicker misses one or two he is off the whole game…that’s why I said he was huge…give PRATER his due on the PRATER post. This post was not about the WHOLE TEAM it was about PRATER…and to that point, I said in EVERY GAME, that it was a team effort. When everyone blamed ORTON for losing to the Raiders, I mention how about the defense not stopping htem after Orton drove us down to within three, so I said the whole team lost. I have said that about every game. When people kept saying DECKER did this or that I asked, what about the guy throwing to DECKER, he didn’t catch it and throw it to himself. Stop being sensitive about everything…again, something that I think is killing this team is the SUPERTEBOWLOVE is making folks overlook the other 52 players and think that this whole team is about him and him alone. What’s next I can’t congratulate Fells on his catch? Is that a shot at Tebow too? My gosh.
Yeah Carnage, but that’s not any different than all the Tebow bad misses your referred to earlier in the game, they had to get in Tebow’s head just as much, you’re just going overboard about all this just about as much as the Tebow disciples do arguing for their savior, I mean maybe you are just getting overly caught up in it too, JMHO.
For the record AGAIN, a mastery of the English language would lead you to read my comment as thus….TEBOW PLAYED BIG, PRATER PLAYED EVEN BIGGER….If I had said, Prater played big, unlike Tebow, different story. The connotation is not that of someone taking a shot at Tebow, but rather that of someone praising Prater for doing well. Which I was. Because that is big. 52 yards on teh road in OT. Now the comment after mine in which it was asked how we get him to make field goals in situations that are not the 4th or OT is a shot at a player.
BUT (this one is for BAY)….missed passes tend not to get in a QB’s head quite as much as kickers. The opportunities are there for teh QBs much more than the kicker. Tebow throws a bad throw, he gets a chance to go back and throw again pretty quickly most of the time. I wasn’t even fussing about Tebow on this blog. Other blogs, I sure and tootin was….but this one, I was just giving props to Prater. Sidenote Bay, the English language comment was not for you either
Carnage – I think it was the simple fact that you needed to mention Tebow at all during a post about Prater.
Te bow or not Te bow.
Something as big as anything Shakespeare ever said.
LMAO!!!
SIDESIDENOTE as I pause in attempting to get my client out of jail…I have been equally as hard on Dawkins this year…almost as hard on Goodman. I even agreed with getting rid of Dumerville (though I like him). Neither of them are as polarizing as Tebow though. The mention of his name is enough to get folks going. I just got a text and my cousin was telling me how tired he is of Tebow, said Eddie Royal was on the Herd and for the 5 minutes he was on there 4 minutes and 45 seconds were about Tebow. I don’t mind the banter. I think I started talking about him in the last blog because there were folks who mentioned voting for him for the Pro Bowl. Nevertheless, I can talk about a variety of other subjects for the rest of the week, including but not limited to the fact that without our offensive MVP Willis McGahee, it could get pretty ugly out there Sunday.
Bay that will forever be the question, well and by forever I mean for the next 10 weeks
To be or not to be
Te bow or not te bow
Yeah that ranks right up there with some of my best, haha.
Nope, that will not be the question for the next 10 weeks. He doesn’t have 10 weeks, unlless the TEAM continues to win every week.
With Fox the adage one game at a time takes on real meaning, hopefully Moreno and Tebow are fully aware of it, for their sakes.
I’m sure they are. It just depends how bad the deck is stacked.
I don’t think the coaches will pull him unless it starts turning into 60 minutes of him playing like he did Sunday. Even with that it is going to take the defense failing to stop people and us putting up performances like the Colts on Monday night. What his starting at QB has done is made business good for the Broncos. Some of it is hype. For example it being announced that the Miami game was a sellout, when I saw empty ROWS of seats. Some of it being that we are being talked about on EVERY national platform good or bad. That is good for business. Normally having a bad team is bad for business, so Pat Bowlen and the crew know they are in the midst of an anomole and they may have to ride it out.
good reads today……..the banter is very entertaining as usual.
Props to Prater for clearing the cobwebs and nailing the kick when it mattered most. Not sure what happened on the two previous attempts. He’s usually money………….but everyone has a bad day once and while. Not an easy thing to do……….to be clutch like that with the game on the line after two previous misses. Good on ya!
Tebow for Pro Bowl? Now that is hillarious! If that actually happened I would be embarrased to say the least. Butt there’s enough Tebowmaniacs out there to try and make it happen. UGH!!!
When does Willis McGahee expect to return???
I really like the guy – one of the few players this season that is playing better than I anticipated! We need him too for this team – now now more than ever!!!
Also outside of Bailey who can stop Calvin Johnson??? MEGATRON!!! LOL
NOW MORENO on the other hand…..he could be beind the BALL (pun intended) pretty darn quickly.
killerkod, not to worry, the fans’ votes only count for a third.
The only plays Moreno is effective on is the screen pass……..where he can get some speed to the outside….kind’ve like a reggie bush type of player. He is not an every down back and cannot carry the load of carries up the gut.
McGahee out 2 to 4 weeks according to Legwold, HUGE PROBLEM!
Killerkod the term BANTER…one of my favorites….I usually agitate the room, for some reason, if twenty people diss Tebow, mine is the one that people notice. I have come on the blogs and found myself to be considered the leader of the Anti-Tebow force. A group of Bronco hating rebels who pedge unholy allegiance to Kyle Orton. Destined to grow neckbeards in honor of our hero. Not sure how I got to be that. Just happened.
but bay…………they might put up more billboards to sway the other 2/3′s!! haha
I do pray however that with our problems on offense, the brass doesn’t take a trip by the retirement home and try to bring in Tiki ot T.O.
Moreno and Bush do have a lot of things in common, both first round picks, LMAO!
They have dedicated a blog to Moreno….unfortunate
Carnage…………it’s all about opinions and our love of the broncos…….
No need for everyone to always agree on this blog……….that would just be boring.
I might not agree or like what some have to say sometimes…….but I respect it as long as it’s not a personal attack or just plain redonkulous…….
That’s why I love this blog and keep tuning in everyday.
I think the time of T.O. being a reciever may be done, but what about converting him to a PASS CATCHING TIGHT END???
I would hope Denver would consider that, but I’m not sure our young locker room could take that influence or not?!?!?!
Anyway, T.O. still has game and as long as he could BLOCK once in a while he could still be a good player!
NOT SAYING I WANT HIM IN DENVER, but T.O. as a Tight End. What do you think???
That’s funny Bay… I’m really a little concerned with the ability for foresight in most posts on this blog… A football team is like a tree in many ways, and trees take a long time to grow before a person can appreciate the whole of it’s greatness… Right now the Broncos franchise is like a sapling that keeps getting uprooted again and again because the home owner doesn’t quite like where he put it the first time.
Tebow never lined up under the wrong offensive lineman, Tebow never through a fit and wouldn’t sign with the team that drafted him. I love Elway, always have and always will… but love of his memory can cloud your judgement of present situations.
Tebow can be the Trunk of our Tree for years to come. He needs someone to pick him a nice sunny place and then just let him be what he his for a few years as he grows and developes and learns to understand how to recongnize and manipulate defenses…
Tebow doesn’t have the time to be a tree, he will need to grow to his full size in just a few months, by next year he will either be the established tree or they will be planiting a new one, of that I’m fairly convinced as I have said many times, we’ll see.
TO needs to go to Carolina with his buddy Newton.
or tebow will be sawed up and used as firewood……..lol
never liked TO……….never will. He is what you call, irrelevant……no matter how much he would like to think otherwise.
Anyway, this morning it wasn’t me saying Tebow and Moreno need to prove themselves this year, it was Legwold.
Great job “Matt Ice”!
That is a very impressive stat for Prater. Personally I think it took equal mental toughness on the part of Tebow and Prater to do what they did. The same really could and should be said of the entire thing. But if you ask me and a lot of other folks, Tim’s leadership has a lot to do with it. That is one aspect of his game where he is beyond NFL quality. As a leader and a competitor he shares the same qualities as Tom Brady, John Elway – name any clutch player you want. It’s a one in a million quality. And that’s exactly why the coaches want to find out if he can improve his fundamentals. Because if he can the upside is tremendous.
On an interesting side note – Matt Prater is the name of one of the football players in the movie “Facing the Giants”. If you havent seen it, DO! (Even if you are not a Christian!)