Who Should I Start? Matt Prater or Chris Boswell

Friday, January 3, 12:10 PM

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon said that veteran kicker Matt Prater (knee) "will not go" in the Week 18 regular-season finale on Sunday against the division-rival San Francisco 49ers. Prater suffered a meniscus injury in his knee earlier this year and missed the last three months as a result. The 40-year-old kicker only ended up playing in four games in 2024 before injuring his knee in his fourth year with Arizona and 18th year in the NFL. In the four games he was active, Prater made all six of his field-goal attempts (one from 50-plus yards) and was successful on all 10 of his extra-point tries as well. Prater will be a free agent heading into his age-41 season in 2025. Chad Ryland will close out the year this weekend as Arizona's kicker. He's bounced back from a tough rookie season with the Pats to go 26-for-30 on field goals and 21-for-22 on extra points in his 12 games with the Cardinals.

Sunday, January 12, 1:27 PM

Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell drilled both of his extra-point attempts in a 28-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. The team struggled to move the ball in the first half and found itself trailing by 21 at halftime, forcing Pittsburgh to be more aggressive with its decision-making in the second half. The Steelers scored two touchdowns in the third quarter, giving Boswell his only action of the contest on PATs. Despite a quiet conclusion to the campaign, it was a historic run for the 33-year-old, whose 41 field goals fell just three shy of David Akers' NFL record for single-season makes. Boswell is under contract through the 2026-2027 season and should be one of the first kickers off the board in fantasy drafts this coming fall.