Kick Matt Prater missed two field goals in the final three minutes of the Arizona Cardinals’ 21-20 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.
His head coach and his teammates refused to pin the loss on his missed kicks but he firmly placed the blame on his shoulders.
The 43-yard attempt he missed wide right with 2:56 to go in the game would have given the Cardinals a 10-point lead, which would have basically locked up the win. Seattle would have needed to score once, recover an onside kick and score again to win.
After Seattle scored on the ensuing drive and made the two-point conversion to take a one-point lead, the Cardinals got in position for a game-winning 51-yard attempt with one second left. Prater missed that one wide right as well.
Head coach Jonathan Gannon said after the game, “it’s not about Matt.”
Gannon preaches team. No loss is on a player. No loss comes down to one play. They win together and lose together.
Prater appreciated the sentiment but took the blame himself.
“It was 100% on me,” he said after the game. “I understand it’s a team game, but at the end of the day I have a job to do and my job is to make field goals, especially if I have two opportunities at the end of the game. I’ve got to come through for the team on those kicks. I appreciate what JG said, but the way I look at it, it’s on me.”
What happened on the kicks?
On the first time, he said he “hit it a little fat (and) pushed it right.”
“I thought it was a fluke on the first one, didn’t make the adjustment and did the same kick (on the 51-yarder). I’ll learn from it and hopefully it doesn’t happen again, ever.”
It was a disappointing way to end a fantastic season for Prater, but he will be back next year (he is under contract for 2024) and can make up for it.
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