December 8, 2013: A 64-Yard Field Goal

December 8, 2013: The Denver Broncos wallop the Tennessee Titans, 51-28 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. (It is now named Empower Field at Mile High, although, scoring 51 points, the Broncos didn't need any more empowerment that day.)

The Titans actually led 21-10 late in the 2nd quarter, before the Broncos took over the game. Peyton Manning completed 39 of 59 passes for 397 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions.

Most notably, on the last play of the 1st half, with the Titans still leading 21-17, head coach John Fox sent kicker Matt Prater, who had already kicked a 25-yard field goal, in to attempt a 64-yard field goal. At first, this looked like a bad idea, for 2 reasons: The NFL record was 63 yards, and Fox had missed the preceding 3 games recovering from a heart issue. Fox did not need this kind of pressure.

But 63 yards had been done 3 times before, twice at altitude, in Denver, and to close the 1st half each time: By Jason Elam of the Broncos, on October 25, 1998, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, at the old Mile High Stadium; and Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders, on September 12, 2011, against the Broncos, at the new stadium. The 1st time it was done, it was by Tom Dempsey of the New Orleans Saints, on November 8, 1970, a game-winner against the Detroit Lions at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans -- actually below sea level.

Prater converted it, and a new NFL record was set. Perhaps inspired by this, the Broncos scored 14 points in the 3rd quarter, and 17 in the 4th quarter, including a 19-yard field goal by Prater. Prater also went 6-for-6 on points-after-touchdowns. The Broncos won the AFC Championship, but got clobbered in Super Bowl XLVIII by the Seattle Seahawks.

Two years later, they won Super Bowl 50 -- but with Brandon McManus as their placekicker. On January 2, 2022, against the Los Angeles Chargers, not far above sea level at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, he kicked a 61-yard field goal. Through the 2022 season, with him still kicking for the Broncos, that remains his career high. So the Broncos' fine kicking tradition, going back to former Jet Jim Turner helping get them into Super Bowl XII in the 1977-78 season, and Rich Karlis kicking them into 3 Super Bowls in the 1980s before Elam helped them win 2 in the 1990s, continues.

On September 28, 2008, at the end of a 1st half, Janikowski was sent in for the most ridiculous field goal attempt ever: 76 yards, on grass, into the wind, at the Oakland Coliseum, just 43 feet above sea level. It flew 58 yards, still a great kick under any circumstances, but it was 18 yards short, and wide right.

On September 9, 2012, David Akers, then with the San Francisco 49ers, hit a 63-yarder against the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay is 581 feet above sea level.

On October 7, 2018, in Charlotte, North Carolina, 761 feet above sea level, Graham Gano did something no kicker had done since Dempsey: Kick a game-winning field goal 63 yards or more. He kicked one from 63 yards out, to give the Carolina Panthers a 33-31 win against the New York Giants.

On September 26, 2021, Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens, at Ford Field in Detroit, 656 feet above sea level, kicked a 66-yard field goal, for a new record. It was well above sea level, on turf, indoors. But, like Dempsey, it was a game-winner. Also like Dempsey, it gave his team a 19-17 win over the Lions.

Before kicking tees were outlawed by the NCAA, 3 college players had kicked 67-yard field goals. The national high school record is 69 yards.

*

December 8, 2013 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:

* The New York Giants lost to the San Diego Chargers, 37-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The New York Jets beat the Oakland Raiders, 37-27 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cleveland Browns, 27-26 at Gillette Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Detroit Lions, 34-20 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Minnesota Vikings, 29-26 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Washington Redskins, 45-10 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-6 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Carolina Panthers, 31-13 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 34-28 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Indianapolis Colts, 42-28 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 22-21 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the St. Louis Rams, 30-10 at the University of Phoenix Stadium (now State Farm Stadium) in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. The Cardinals had played in St. Louis from 1960 to 1987, and the Rams left Los Angeles to play in St. Louis from 1995 to 2015, before moving back to L.A.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks, 19-17 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Niners played 1 more game at Candlestick, before moving down the Peninsula to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara the next season.

* The next night, on Monday Night Football, the Chicago Bears beat the Dallas Cowboys, 45-28 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* And the preceding Thursday night, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Houston Texans, 27-20 at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.

Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 114-73 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Miami Heat beat the Detroit Pistons, 110-95 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Orlando Magic, 98-88 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

* The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-94 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena (now the Paycom Center) in Oklahoma City. Kevin Durant led all scorers on the day with 36 points.

* And the Toronto Raptors beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 106-94 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

And there were 5 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Washington Capitals, 4-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-2 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Florida Panthers, 6-2 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Wild beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Colorado Avalanche, 3-1 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.