The Arizona Cardinals’ up-and-down season continues. However, without their kicker Matt Prater available for the majority of the season, their struggles have amplified. Without the record holder of the longest field goal in NFL history, Arizona’s offense isn’t humming the same.
But after he made a return to practice last week, why is Prater still unavailable for the Cardinals’ Week 17 clash against the Los Angeles Rams?
Why Isn’t Matt Prater Playing?
A knee injury kept Prater out of action before the Week 5 matchup against the San Francisco 49ers. He missed the following two games before the Cardinals officially placed him on the injured reserve list midway through October. And until last week, he’s been out of action ever since.
After he was designated to return from IR on Dec. 18, Prater became a regular at practice last week. However, appearing in a limited capacity, he wasn’t ready in time to take the field against the Carolina Panthers.
This week, a similar story has unfolded.
Despite gradually increasing his workload, Prater has yet to become a full practice participant. As a result, a matchup on Saturday against the Rams is now impossible as a potential return date — meaning Week 17 will be the 12th game in a row that he misses.
As a result, Chad Ryland will once again be taking over kicking responsibilities for Arizona.
How Long Will Prater Be Out Due to Injury?
Prater’s situation has gone from bad to worse week after week. What was initially an ankle injury kept him out for two weeks and then landed him on the IR.
Even after coming off of injured reserve, Prater has yet to become a full-time participant. One after the other, delays keep popping up in his recovery time.
With Week 18 unimportant to the overall standings and playoff aspirations for the Cardinals, it’s possible that Arizona gives Prater the time off. And with his contract expiring, it’s possible that we’ve seen the last of Prater in a Cardinals uniform.
How Has Prater’s Absence Impacted the Chiefs?
On a strictly statistical basis, the switch from Prater to Ryland hasn’t been unbelievably high. At 86.2%, Ryland’s field-goal percentage is right in line with Prater’s career average of 83.6 when accounting for volume.
Unfortunately, the bigger issue for the Cardinals comes from their ability to be aggressive with their drives. With long field goals being Prater’s specialty, Arizona could pick up a bunch of points even from wideout. However, the same hasn’t been true for Ryland.
As a relatively unproven commodity, Arizona has hardly gone to the well on 50+ yard attempts. For the season, Ryland’s number stands at just three, albeit he’s made all of them.
But with Prater regularly having double-digit attempts from the same distance, it leaves a lot of points on the board for Arizona.
Similarly, from 40 and out, Prater was automatic. Over his four seasons with the Cardinals, he missed just five total attempts. By comparison, Ryland has already missed four this season alone.
A couple of accurate kicks could have been the difference between 7-8 and 9-6, allowing Arizona to still be alive for the playoffs.
