DENVER, CO - DECEMBER 11: Place kicker Matt Prater #5 of the Denver Broncos kicks the game winning 51 yard field goal from the hold of Britton Colquitt #4 of the Denver Broncos against the Chicago Bears in overtime as the Broncos defeated the Bears 13-10 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on December 11, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)
Denver Broncos kicker Matt Prater will be named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week, the National Football League informed the Broncos on Tuesday.
Prater tied a career long with a 59-yard field goal with 0:03 remaining against Chicago on Sunday to send the game to overtime, where he connected on a 51-yarder for the 13-10 Broncos win.
With his performance against the Bears, he joined Indianapolis kicker Mike Vanderjagt (at Den., 11/24/02) as the only two players in NFL history to kick a 50+yard field goal with less than a minute remaining to force overtime in addition to kicking an overtime game winner from 50+ yards.
Prater, who has connected on 28-of-29 career field goals in the fourth quarter or overtime, owns four game-winning field goals for Denver this season on the last play of the game (three overtime and one at the end of regulation), tying him for the second most all-time in a single season (5 - Jason Elam, 2007).
This is the third time Prater has been named the conference's special teams player of the week during his five-year career. He also received the honor in 2008 (Week 5) and 2009 (Week 12).
For the season, Prater has made 17-of-23 (.739) field goals and has produced touchbacks on 40-of-57 (70.2%) kickoffs.
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