Matt Prater ran out and paid the price. Twice rather than once.
His attempt to break his own record for longest field goal in NFL history – for 64 yards, in the thin air of Denver eight years ago – backfired as a former teammate returned his failed 68-yard kick in Jacksonville’s heavy air for 109 yards for a touchdown on the last play of the half.
The 109-yard punt return tied for a Goodell homerun mark.
Prater’s 34-yard field goal in the third quarter kicked off the comeback for the Arizona Cardinals, who trailed 13-7 at halftime and inflicted an 18e consecutive setback to the Jaguars.
He still lost his record.
More than 1,600 miles north, in the climate controlled Ford Field in Detroit, where Prater has honed his apprenticeship for the past seven campaigns, Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, the most accurate kicker in NFL history , lined up at his own 40-line with three seconds left.
The ball swept through the 66 yards to the goal post, hit the crossbar and leaped behind as the final seconds slipped to secure a 19-17 victory for the Ravens over the Lions.
“It was more like a kickoff,” said Tucker. It’s like a competition of longer tee shots in golf. You give it your all and hope it keeps its course. ”
Even though his league record fell, Prater still holds the longest field goal mark for three teams: the Cardinals (62), Lions (63) and Denver Broncos (64).
Kickers have never been so good under pressure this early in the season, but for Kliff Kingsbury to ask Prater to attempt a 68-yard punt in Florida was to stretch the elastic a bit too much.
Jamal Agnew returned the kick for 109 yards, smashing two tackles while avoiding another before slipping past Prater on the final 10 yards.
“This is possibly the greatest moment of adversity you can experience in an NFL game, to go through that right before the end of the half,” Kingsbury said after the Cards raised their record to 3-0 for the first time since 2015. But the guys didn’t give up, even when we were two possessions behind. I am really proud of their effort. ”
Three more games were decided on a successful field goal at the very last minute in addition to the one involving Tucker in the last week:
– Daniel Carlson, whose failed transformation helped the Dolphins go into overtime, gave the victory to the Raiders who went undefeated thanks to his 22-yard field goal in the last second of the game;
– Younghoe Koo’s 40-yard field goal as the last second elapsed saw the Flacons defeat the Giants at MetLife Stadium;
– Mason Crosby also gave his team the victory on the last play of the game, his 51-yard kick allowing the Packers to win 30-28 against the 49ers au Levi’s Stadium.
In all, there have been 10 field goals giving a team a successful lead in the last 10 seconds of a game this season, the highest after three weeks since the 1970 merger.
Associated Press reporters Mark Long, in Jacksonville, and Larry Lage, in Detroit, contributed to this story.
