The Buffalo Bills season is now in the rearview mirror, which gives us a good opportunity to begin breaking down how the team performed during the 2025 NFL season. Over the next couple weeks, we’ll break down this
past season’s roster based on position groups.
We’ll begin by taking a look back at the Bills’ place-kicking situation — perhaps an underrated group, but one that plays a huge role in every game’s outcome. Buffalo entered the 2025 season expecting Tyler Bass to handle all kicking duties (not including punting). Things veered off path very quickly, where during the preseason Bass dealt with a hip/groin injury that landed him on Injured Reserve to begin the regular season. There was some hope Bass would be back during the season, but in December he needed surgery, which officially ended his season.
With little notice before Week 1 to find a new kicker, the Bills turned to veteran Matt Prater who
started the season with a walk-off win against the Baltimore Ravens. The 41-year-old veteran became a viable weapon for Buffalo, making 90% of his kicks. Then, Prater suffered a quad injury against the
New England Patriots in Week 15. The injury left the postseason in doubt as Prater was pulled in the regular-season finale against the New York Jets after reportedly tweaking the injury.
However, Prater said he was good to go for the postseason, and sure enough he was right. Prater went 5-of-5
on his field goals in the playoffs, including a 50-yard kick against the Denver Broncos to send the game into overtime. Prater was also 6-of-6 on extra-point attempts when points were at a premium against the Jacksonville Jaguars and Broncos.
Prater earns a solid A for the season, showing the world that he can still be an effective kicker in the twilight of his NFL career. He comes up just short of an A+ solely due to giving fans a heart attack thinking he would not be available for the playoffs.
It will be interesting to see if Prater decides to give it one more season or at least comes back for training
camp, should the Bills be in the market. Prater’s play allowed Bills Mafia to forget about Bass, and it’s more than likely many would not be opposed to him giving it one more season with Buffalo.
