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Matt Prater wins second ‘Special Teams Player of the Week’ for Arizona Cardinals

Arizona Cardinals v Dallas Cowboys Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images

Matt Prater rebounded after a tough Christmas night, and in turn won the NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the Arizona Cardinals.

From the team:

This is Prater’s second “Special Teams Player of the Week” this season after he previously won the award following Arizona’s Week 6 win at Cleveland. It is also the seventh “Player of the Week” selection for the Cardinals in 2021, tied for the most selections in a single season in team history (2009).

Prater is the first Cardinals player to win “Special Teams Player of the Week” twice in the same season since 2014 (Chandler Catanzaro) and is just the third kicker in team history to accomplish that feat. It is Prater’s 14th career “Special Teams Player of the Week” selection, trailing only Adam Vinatieri (19) for the most “Special Teams Player of the Week” awards in NFL history by a kicker.

Prater made all four of his field goal attempts (24, 53, 26 & 38) and his one PAT, tying his season high with 13 points in the Cardinals three-point win.

His 53-yard field goal just before halftime was his 66th career FG of 50+ yards, extending his NFL record. It was was also Prater’s seventh FG of 50+ yards in 2021, a new Cardinals single-season record.

Prater’s seven FGs of 50+ yards in 2021 tie his career-high for a single season. It is the fourth time in his career Prater has had seven FGs of 50+ yards in a season.

With one game remaining, Prater has accumulated 125 points (27 FGs, 44 PATs) in 2021. That represents the fifth-highest single-season total in franchise history.

In addition to Prater winning “Special Teams Player of the Week” twice this year, Chandler Jones won “Defensive Player of the Week” twice (Week 11 at Seattle, Week 1 at Tennessee), Jordan Hicks was named “Defensive Player of the Week” following Arizona’s Week 13 win at Chicago, Byron Murphy was selected as “Defensive Player of the Week” after Arizona’s Week 3 win at Jacksonville and Kyler Murray was named “Offensive Player of the Week” after the Cardinals win vs. Minnesota in Week 2.

Congratulations to Prater on the award.