Broncos Lose All Pro Kicker: Prater Suspended for 4 Games

((ht: denverpost.com))

Whomever said kickers are interchangeable in pro football obviously didn't have Matt Prater on his team.

Prater, the leagues most accurate kicker, who can and has knocked them down from over 60-yards away will sit out the first 4 games of the Denver Broncos season.

The reason: He violated the NFL Substance Abuse policy.

According to the Denver Post, Prater had been in the leagues Substance Abuse Program since his DUI arrest in 2011. And while specifics of the violation haven't been disclosed, in a story first reported by the Post, Prater's agent implied his client had a couple of beers while at home.

Officially, the announcement of Prater's suspension isn't supposed to happen until Monday, but the Post reported it on Sunday.

You can read the full story from the Denver newspaper RIGHT HERE

Denver was the leagues highest scoring team last season and Prater himself accounted for 150 points. The only other kicker brought into camp this preseason is rookie Mitch Ewald from Indiana.

Since there are always journeyman kickers available to come in and play for a few games, the guess here is the Broncos will bring a couple in, see how they do and have a plan B ready in case Ewald isn't up to the task.

This video explains why the Broncos will miss Prater--a 64-yard field goal....

DEVELOPING: Matt Prater Is The New Record Holder

((HT: NFL on CBS))

Matt Prater is now the answer to the trivia question after Jason Elam and Tom Dempsey held the NFL record for longest field goal made at 63 yards...

He dropped one in from 64 yards just before the half in the home game against Tennessee


Well done, sir...

The One Where Tebow Wins in O.T: Broncos over Steelers

It certainly wasn't the game that anybody expected to see. And really, we stayed away from posting about the NFL Wildcard games this weekend because they are always so mass reported.

But we can't help ourselves on chiming in about the Denver Tebow's and their head scratching, amazing win Sunday night against the vaunted--but injured, Pittsburgh Steelers.

You had to know this wasn't going to be the game you expected on the opening kickoff. You know, the one where Matt Prater hits the crossbar for a touchback...and the ball bounces off the crossbar...and lands perfectly on the 20-yard-line.



What followed was pretty simple quite honestly. The Steelers went "All-in". They committed to 8 in the box, stopping the run and letting the Tebow beat them.

He did.

10 Completions for 316 yards including a game winning 80-yard strike to reciever Demaryius "Be-be" Thomas. 50-yards and a TD rushing. 'Nuff said.

Yes, the Steelers were banged up. And more importantly, they were exposed as an "Old" football team. Ben Rothlisberger was still recovering from a severe ankle sprain, but played "O.K". Isaac Redman did an admirable job filling in for the injured Rashard Mendenhall.

But it wasn't enough.

The Steelers recovered from a 10-point deficit in the second half. They tied the game late. And you can't really even say much about overtime.

On the first play, they went 8-up, with no deep safety. And they bought the play action. All Thomas had to do was break his route towards the middle of the field. Which he did. Tebow hit him in stride at about the 40 and Thomas did the rest.

We aren't going to say here that the Tebow's will run the table. They won't. But they'll have a punchers chance in New England Saturday night against the Tom Brady's. Oddly, we are betting that a lot of people will be tuning in to see if it happens..

CBSSports.com gives us Jim Nantz and an uncomfortable Phil Simms for the recap: