Matt Prater Shines In Broncos’ Win Over Cowboys

Kicker Matt Prater (5) and holder Britton Colquitt (4) celebrate the game winning field goal in the fourth quarter of the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium (USA Today Sports)

For as many points as the Denver Broncos have scored this season (230 to be exact) not much has been made of kicker Matt Prater…until now.

In Denver’s 51-48 win over the Cowboys, Prater nailed kicks from 48 and 50 yards out before winning the game with a 28-yard field as time expired. The Broncos needed every single one of his points to walk away with the win.

Prater’s accuracy has been incredible this season. He’s perfect — 9-for-9 with a long of 53 yards and 29-for-29 on extra points.

Trindon Holliday’s name tends to come up first when people think of the Broncos’ special teams. What people don’t realize is that if you’re bringing up the name of the kicker, most of the time it’s not for good reason. Prater’s name hasn’t really been brought up until now, until he kicked the game winner.

Danny Trevathan intercepted a Tony Romo pass at the Dallas 24-yard line with the game tied and roughly two minutes remaining. Then it was a couple of Peyton Manning completions to pick up 21 yards, a couple of Knowshon Moreno runs to kill some clock, and finally a few kneel downs by Manning.

“We communicated that we did not want to score with time remaining,” John Fox said. “Fortunately, it worked out that it was executed well and we got the W and we never had to go back on the field.”

From the beginning of that final drive, the initial plan was to kick a field goal.

A win is a win no matter where the points come from. That’s why Denver has set a record with the most points in NFL history through the first five games of the season. That and Prater’s accuracy.

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