Matt Prater is one of many pending free agents on the Detroit Lions as the team enters the 2020 finale. Detroit’s kicker since the middle of the 2014 season is hopeful he can return to the team in 2021, too.
In his press conference on Friday, Prater made no bones about it. He’s fixing to play in 2021 and he wants it to be in Detroit. His family does, too.
Prater has not had a great 2020 season, something he owned in his press conference. He has made just 20 of his 27 field goal attempts and has also yakked two extra points. The 74.1 percent accuracy on field goals would be the worst Prater has had since his first full season in Denver back in 2008.
“I can’t put my finger on it, this year’s been so different from top to bottom, having an inconsistent kicking season is like the icing on the cake,” Prater noted when discussing his struggles.
It makes for an interesting decision for the new Lions regime. Prater’s leg remains strong at 36 years old, but he hasn’t finished in the top 10 in field goal accuracy since 2015 and his touchback percentage on kickoffs ranks near the bottom of the NFL. Some of that is by design, of course; the Matt Patricia regime favored the shorter kickoffs to try and coax returns and penalties.
But he also tied the NFL record for the most successful field goal attempts of at least 50 yards earlier this season, and his accuracy percentage on those long bombs blows away the man he tied, Sebastian Janikowski. Prater is well-liked by teammates and fans, who recall the kicking horror show that spanned the gap between Jason Hanson and Prater.
