Kicker Matt Prater will be named the Week 14 AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, the league informed the Broncos on Tuesday.
Prater matched his career long with a 59-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime. In overtime, Prater ended the game with a 51-yard game winner to give the Broncos a 13-10 victory over the Bears.
Prater joined Mike Vanderjagt (Ind., at Den., 11/24/02) as the only players in NFL history to kick a 50+yard field goal with less than one minute remaining to force overtime and then go on to kick an overtime game-winning kick from 50+yards.
Sunday’s victory over Chicago marked the third consecutive week that Prater has kicked a walk-off field goal. He is the first player since Chris Jacke (Ari., 1998, Weeks 15-17) with game-winning field goals on the final play of the game in three straight week.
With his 51-yard game-winning field goal against the Bears, he improved to 12-of-16 (.750) on career field goal attempts from 50+ yards to pass Tony Zendejas as the most accurate kicker from 50+ yards in NFL history (players who started their careers after 1970 / min. 10 att.). Prater improved to 28-of-29 (.966) on career field goal attempts in the fourth quarter or overtime.
He is just the fourth kicker in NFL history to kick three overtime field goals in a single season and is the third player in NFL history to kick at least four game-winning field goals in a single season.
Prater is the first Bronco to win the Special Teams Player of the Week Award since Week 12 of 2009 when he took the honors after finishing 4-of-4 on field goals to go with five touchbacks on kickoffs in Denver’s 26-6 win against the Giants.
He also won the weekly award in Week 5 of the 2008 season after converting all three field goal attempts to go with four touchbacks on five kickoffs.
-Stuart Zaas
Tags: Matt Prater, Special Teams Player of the Week, Weekly Awards
Our pass rush will be a determining factor in this weeks game… If we don’t make Brady move around and hurry some throws we could be in for a real long game… o’yeah, and maybe focus just a little on Gronk… he is a Beast!
Congrats to Prater.
When are they gonna bring Darcel McBath back … WE NEED SAFETIES. And while he has shown some frailty … at least he could play for the most part.
TRB
Apparently the Jaguars signed him yesterday … never mind … sigh…
Did you see the Jags have put 27 players on IR… that is unreal…
Yea … i was just on their website checking out their headlines … and yea … the actual number is 22 … either w ay … still freaking ridiculous … New strength and conditioning coach anyone? lol …. thats unheard off … at least to me. TRB
That is not updated… They have 27 on the CNNSI link… That is over half a roster…
and I agree, they need to try something new… how can you lose half a team?
Since1972, sometimes I don’t like how close the really fast guys will get when it’s just practice. I’m all for being aggresive but there is not reason to block pass or put someone you don’t know over a berm in practice.
Im roughly a mid pack B rider so Im not fast or slow. On most days I am faster than 75% of the guys practicing but I don’t take guys out or force them out of a line just cause Im faster.
Its crazy sometimes. Love slinging roost though and block passing friends is fair game. So is $&*# talking.
RH709. Yes love my Broncos but motocross is my passion probably have eaten more roost than I’ve slung but when you are a senior class rider that’s kind of how it goes. Have a poor quality video on YouTube that my wife took at a practise track I ride at. Not computer literate enough to provide a link but if you search YouTube for usedknobby2 you might find it and have a good laugh at an old mx nut trying to ride.
The Pats aren’t that great. The can be exposed. I have a feeling this game will be a lot like the one two years ago…lets all just hope…nay…believe that our receivers can bring their A game.
Brady usually has fits at Mile High and I imagine he will not look Champs way…I like the Tony Carter signing. I also feel Wilhite may be a little pumped for this one too.
Just go out, play Broncos football and we’ll come out on top….
Shhhh! You guys hear that? Brady does. It footsteps
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!
BRONCOS 23
pansys 21
E.E.T.
Prater is the man too! Those kicks were clutch. Especially after the block…my hats off to him. Well deserved award.
GO BRONCOS!!!!!!!!
Just believe…Go Broncos!!
Having babbled about Tebow Doom Miller and Champ so much, decided it was time to babble about one of our other guys. Wesley Woodyard.
Here he is after the broncos beat Chi, in large part thanks to Woodyard’s last minute strip of the ball in over time: http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/imageDisplay.jsp?contentItemRelationshipId=4130767
Just to refresh everyone’s memory, WW (finally Woodyard has turned those initials into a good thing) was an undrafted free agent in 2008. And boy has he panned out.
nice little article on woodyard right here
http://predominantlyorange.com/2011/12/13/wesley-woodyard-makes-big-impact-on-and-off-field/
Woodyard on locker room cohesion:
Six-game winning streaks in the NFL make national headlines, but that’s what the top college teams do almost routinely.
Broncos linebacker Wesley Woodyard, only four years removed from his playing days at Kentucky, sees a correlation. The surging Broncos (8-5), he said, have developed a college-like team chemistry.
“When I first got here, people used to ask me what’s the difference (between college and pro) in the locker room,” Woodyard said. “Guys don’t really hang out with each other, except guys in certain positions, and maybe a couple of other guys. Last year there wasn’t that tight, close bond.
Woodyard also has quite a sense of humor, and a channel on youtube. Here is his take on weapon X:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUNAdnhEIBc
Tom Brady has had his toughest games against no other than the Broncos.
All I keep telling myself is if Rex Grossman, of all people, can put up 27 points on the pats, then we should easily be able to do the same!
Also, Brady never has an easy time here at Mile High……….
And he’s prone to have a stinker now and again…….I think he’s due! haha
and I bet if you put this version of the Denver Broncos on the field against the Detroit Lions now, it would be a completely different outcome………..
I’ll be cheering for the Lions this weekend though……..that thing will be a penalty-fest!
and when the Raiders lose another one…….they will just implode anyways and turn on one another…….prob pointing the finger to Carson. I wouldn’t doubt they lose out.
I have a feeling the chargers will prob win out but too little, too late.
oh, and congrats to Prater……….both he and Colquitt have been pretty special this year and have been a major factor in our success. We’re gonna need some nice puting this weekend, pinning the pats deep every chance we can get!
WAKEY WAKEY PEOPLE!!! lol
Any word on mcgahee? I hope he can go he will have a field day i bet.. as a matter of fact mayb even our backups could if he is not able 2 play
I haven’t heard anything………….but I’m sure he’ll be roaring to go in the biggest game of the season so far. How effective he’ll be is another story.
In case you guys wish for more orange kool-aid go no further than to Woody:
The winner of the Broncos-Patriots game on Sunday will play in the Super Bowl.
That prophecy may seem preposterous because the Patriots are last in the NFL in both passing and total defense, and the Broncos are 31st in passing and 23rd overall on offense .
But the Patriots have Tom Terrific, the Broncos Tim Tremendous; Bill Belichick and John Fox already have coached against each other in the Super Bowl; the Patriots averaged 34.8 points in their past five games, and the Broncos have allowed 15 or fewer points in five of their past eight games.
The Patriots have won five games in a row; the Broncos have won six straight.
Some neat insight as to Tebow and his drafting:
Fox and Belichick were very intrigued with Tebow before the 2010 draft.
On the day he was introduced as the Broncos coach, Fox told four of us from The Post that he’d had a pre-draft dinner with Tebow in Gainesville, Fla. “When I got ready to pick up the check, the waiter said Tim had given him a credit card. I’d never had a player do that. I made them tear it up and let me take care of it,” Fox said.
During Tebow’s pre-draft visit with the Patriots, Beli- chick took him to Tresca’s Italian restaurant in Boston’s North End. There is no evidence that Tebow tried to grab that dinner tab.
The Patriots coach was impressed, saying at the time he had “talked to (Tebow) about being a professional quarterback.” Not professional gimmick or gadget player.
However, Brady was the Patriots’ quarterback — and New England had other needs. Fox equally was enthralled with Tebow, but the Panthers didn’t own a first-round choice.
Meanwhile, then-Broncos coach Josh McDaniels was blown away by his personal trip to Florida to talk with and work out Tebow. He told me Tebow answered every question the Broncos had about him on the practice field and for him in the meeting.
Fearful that his old boss, Belichick, might choose Tebow at No. 27, or some other team might select the quarterback later in the first round, McDaniels maneuvered to get Tebow at 25.
This makes for a great trivia, I’ve been a Bronco fan since 1974 and I didn’t even know that:
Belichick was a Broncos film assistant in 1978.
interesting stuff bay………..thanks!
Pretty cool tidbits of info there, bay.
Just checked the 506 site, our game is being televised almost nationally. Yeyah!
And Legwold rightfully decided to bring Woody back down to Earth:
to make any final projections about the 2011 Broncos (8-5) based on their past eight games is risky. They have defeated only one team that currently has a winning record – the Jets – whose quarterback was not:
A. A rookie (Bengals)
B. A backup (Bears)
C. Making his first start for the team after being acquired from his couch (Raiders).
Yes, the fourth-quarter comebacks are historical, incredible and something for fans to feel very good about, but the season is far from over, the final grades are not in.
This is my favorite part of how our team plays football now and one of the biggest factor in our success, still from Legwold:
In talking to folks around the league, almost all of them have brought up, at least when they get past Tim Tebow ‘s slow starts and game-closing heroics, the Broncos’ ability to wear down opponents. They’re doing it with their running game and with what appears to be superb conditioning.
Last weekend, the Bears’ defense struggled to keep up with the Broncos’ pace on offense late in the game. The Broncos had gone no-huddle to keep the Bears in a two-deep zone, with the safeties well off the line of scrimmage and Tebow hitting everything underneath. Denver coach John Fox addressed that after the game.
“We practice at game speed. We don’t practice real long, but we practice fast and simulate a game basically every practice,” Fox said.
The Bears appeared to tire chasing Tebow during the final five minutes.
“He causes a defense to run around more because he runs around a lot,” Fox said. “I think it causes your conditioning level to be taxed some.”
It’s worth noting that as a potential division winner, the Broncos would have a home game in the first round of the playoffs. For opponents who say playing at altitude doesn’t matter, it does.
Just ask the Bears.
Agreed. The “one game at a time” mentality is true now like it is always.
regardless of who the wins came against, we all know that wins in this league are never easy to come by, no matter who the opponant. Unless you’re playing the 2011 colts, of course. lol
Also agreed on the altitude thing. When that’s combined with how physically fit Tebow is, plus our constant knack for pounding the ball, opposing defenses are sure to be worn out late in games.
The perfect Xmas present for all your “Tebow disciples” buddies:
Now you can have Tim Tebow Tebowing on your wall.
For only $100 (ok fine. $99.99), you can purchase the official Tebowing Fathead.
bay, thanks for the “warning”? lmao
Good thing I don’t have any friends who would spend $100.00 on me, LOL.
Hey Bay? did you watch the Around the Horn where Woody said that live? It was great!!!
They had a great peice on ESPN last night interviewing the Sports Writers in Denver… It was nice to put faces to the names of Legwold and Klis… I really like these guys…
Legwold is the smart one.
Klis is the boot licker.
And of course Woody is the wild one.
How does Belicheck get away with using his WR in the secondary… this is not something that he is shy about doing and I would hope that our team can devise a way to take full advantage of Julian Edelman in pass coverage…
Haha… @Boot Licker…. Maybe he can dine on Socks with Merril and Stephen A…. !!!
He boot licks so hard, he’s got his head all the way up the Broncos organization’s rear end, but that’s how he gets the best inside info.
I’m sure all the so called analysts will be back to harping on TT and how he’s not an NFL QB if he has a bad game against the pats. They are so fickle…………..
So TT, don’t give them the opportunity!
This team will give New England all it wants… I can’t wait to hear what Brady has to say after witnessing the Speed and Power of VON first hand…
O’yeah… and Can we get some TE love? just a little… Maybe 3 catches for 40 yards and a couple first downs? is that too much to ask?
No fatheads for me
All I asked Santa for was some small kitchen appliances for when we move LOL. Probably will get coal though. At least I have my Jersey, so life is good.
I am really looking forward to the re-play tonight. I want to hear how Tebow inspires the troops. Guess he won’t be saying “my team mates need to rise to my level of play” like Newton said. Of course he is going to be a superstar in the NFL, just look at HIS numbers LOL.