It was a good month of October for kicker Chad Ryland. He was not on any NFL roster during the month of September.
After a month with the Arizona Cardinals, he is now the reigning NFC Special Teams Player of the Month.
The league announced the award on Thursday,
Ryland signed with the Cardinals’ practice squad on Oct. 2 and was elevated to the active roster in Week 5 when Matt Prater was unable to play with a knee injury. He kicked the game-winning 35-yard field goal to beat the San Francisco 49ers. When Prater was placed on injured reserve, Ryland was signed to the active roster and made two more game-winning field goals, a 32-yard kick as time expired in Week 7 to give the Cardinals a 17-15 win over the L.A. Chargers, and a 34-yarder as time expired on Sunday to beat the Miami Dolphins 28-27.
He became just the third player in NFL history to make three game-winning field goals in the final two minutes of a game in the first four weeks of being with a team, joining Chris Jacke, who did it with the Cardinals in 1998, and Stephen Gostkowski, who did it with the Tennessee Titans in 2020.
The back-to-back game-winning field goals was only the second time in franchise history it occurred. Jacke did the other time in 1998.
He is the third Cardinals kicker to earn player of the month honors joining Neil Rackers and Zane Gonzalez.
He has made 8-of-9 field goals for the Cardinals, including a long of 57 yards last week, and all six of his extra points.
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