Cardinals’ Matt Prater felt for Vikings K Greg Joseph after deciding FG miss
Sep 20, 2021, 11:20 AM | Updated: Sep 21, 2021, 4:05 am
Arizona Cardinals kicker Matt Prater (5) talks with Minnesota Vikings kicker Greg Joseph (1) after an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 19, 2021, in Glendale, Ariz. The Cardinals won 34-33. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Cardinals kicker Matt Prater made a field goal few people would expect him to convert at the end of the first half on Sunday.
His Minnesota Vikings counterpart, Greg Joseph, missed a gimme in the final seconds, giving Arizona a 34-33 win at State Farm Stadium. Joseph also missed an extra point earlier in the game that would have made up that one-point Vikings deficit.
So even after the Cardinals walked off the field victorious, Prater, who joined Arizona Sports’ Bickley & Marotta on Monday, couldn’t help but feel for his opponent working in a niche and unforgiving profession.
“You never hope anyone screws up,” Prater said of Joseph’s missed 37-yarder at the end of the game. “I felt bad for him. I talked to him for a minute after, I could tell he was pretty upset, obviously. It stinks when something like that happens. I’m happy we got the win but not like that.
“I just told him, I said, ‘You know how good you are. You just got to go out there and keep swinging, man. Hopefully it’ll straighten itself out.'”
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Joseph, who has 16 games and 24 field goals of NFL experience, could now be at risk of losing his job — or at least on a hot sea — having made two mistakes that cost a desperate 0-2 Vikings squad. That’s despite nailing two 52-yarders to keep Minnesota in the high-scoring back-and-forth against the Cardinals.
Prater, with his 205 games and 390 career field goal attempts, was signed by Arizona with a priority being put on winning close games.
The 37-year-old has the most 50-yard-plus field goals made and the longest in league history, a 64-yarder for the Denver Broncos in 2013.
He got close to that mark Sunday with a 62-yard make before halftime to set the Cardinals franchise record.
Prater said the ball felt good off his foot on the long kick, which gave Arizona a 24-23 halftime lead.
“Guys ask me why I keep my head down, so that I can feel it,” Prater told Bickley & Marotta. “If I make good contact or like the way it felt on my foot, I keep my head down. If I ever look up quick that means I screwed up.
“The one yesterday felt pretty good. I don’t know if I could hit it much better than that. Luckily it went straight.”
