The Lions get Prater to try to solve their kicking problems
The Lions made the decision to acquire the services of Matt Prater on a one-year deal as the team tries to put an end to their early kicking problems. Now many of the team’s Live betting fans believe that their problems could come to an end.
On Tuesday night, the agreement was confirmed by Detroit. Earlier in the month, Denver parted ways with Prater, when the kicker was about to leave a suspension of four games after he breached the NFL’s policy on drug abuse.
Last season, 25 out of 26 field goals were made by Prater, and these include a 64-yarder in a game against the Titans. Detroit grew more and more in need of help in the kicking department after rookie Alex Henery went 1 out of 5 field goals and 3 out of 7 were made by Nate Freese.
Three field goals were missed by Henery when the team lost 17-14 to Buffalo on Sunday, including a 50-yarder, something that would have given the Lions a lead in the last minute of the game.
The player was in the league’s substance-abuse program, including alcohol, since he was arrested on August 12, 2011 for DUI. Prater was first facing a season suspension, but a ban of four games was negotiated by his lawyer.
The 30-year-old said that he was aware that another mistake would mean that he would not be able to play for a whole calendar year when he drank a few beers not long after the Super Bowl took place.
”Why did I risk it?” said Prater on August 25. ”I made a mistake. I don’t have an excuse for it. I screwed up and now I’m paying the price for it.”
In the preseason, the player ended up missing two of four attempts to score a field goal, and these include a 49-yarder in a loss to the Texans of 18-17 after learning about his suspension before kickoff.
During his suspension, Prater was replaced by Brandon McManus, and the Broncos decided to keep his services.
