OK, so Matt Prater needs two more field goals of at least 50 yards this season to tie the NFL record, and special teams coordinator/assistant head coach Jeff Rodgers admitted that probably isn't going to play a role in what Prater tries or the offense does in the final two games of the season.
"It's not something you're thinking about," Rodgers said. "(50-yarders) are something that come in the course of a game."
But Prater did already set one record when he converted his 55-yard field goal in Chicago on Christmas Eve.
The boot was his sixth field goal from at least 55 yards -- the most ever in a NFL season.
The record -- which Prater originally had in 2017 when he had four with the Lions -- had been five, by the Jets' Jason Myers (2018), Las Vegas' Daniel Carlson (2022) and the Rams' Matt Gay (2022). Carlson owns the 11 50-yarders in a season, also set last year.
Prater has made two from 55, and one each from 56, 57, 58 and 62. He also has missed from 55 and 56.
Maybe a 55-yard-or-more mark is getting too in the weeds, since we are already talking about 50-yard field goals overall. But that kind of length from a kicker can only help an offense. And it underscores the kind of impactful season Prater is having.
The fact the long field goal records are all recent begs the question of how far can it go? If kickers keep getting better and stronger, will we eventually have a 60-yarders-in-a-season record? Rodgers isn't sure. He thinks there are kickers that can already potentially bomb like that, but factors get in the way. If a kicker misses a long field goal, the opposition gets the ball at the spot of the kick, which becomes more of a deterrent the longer the field-goal try.
More teams have reasons to go for it on fourth down too, depending on circumstances, which will likely lessen the number of field-goal tries overall.
"I don't think we're ever going to get to the point where 64 or 65 (yards) are going to be commonplace," Rodgers said. "But guys, their legs are better, they are more focused on their technique, and the snappers and the holders and the protection have gotten to a point, it's not just the kicker, some of those factors are improving the field goal unit's chances."
