There isn't anything flashy about Denver Broncos placekicker Wil Lutz. He doesn't have the strongest leg in the NFL and his name won't come up when fantasy football players want the league's top kicker. But one thing he has proven to be is consistent.
Consistency is exactly what coach Sean Payton was looking for when he traded for Lutz, his former kicker in New Orleans. That consistency also helped Lutz get a three-year contract extension from the team last year.
Lutz has currently made 99 consecutive PATs for the team, something that is no longer a given in today's game. Several teams have cycled through multiple kickers over the last several years, while the Broncos have had just one guy, whose job security is not threatened.
“[I have] a lot
of pride, and I don’t mind talking about it," Lutz said of his streak. "I think it’s a cool feature. This game is decided by, if you look at the stats, it’s like something like 75 percent of games are decided by three points. So I take just as much pride in the extra point as I do a 55-yarder in the third quarter. It’s important.
"I think you saw in the Giants game, one point changes the entire approach of the game. So that comes from preparation and not having a lazy swing in those moments. It’s the kick you’re going to hit the most in the season. So it’s making sure you’re locked in for all 70, 60 extra points you’re going to have. Hopefully we can keep that going."
Lutz referenced the wild comeback the Broncos had against the New York Giants last season, in which Giants kicker Jude McAtamney missed two extra-point kicks in that game, which the Broncos won 33-32.
Lutz's streak of 99 straight makes is the top active streak in the league. Tyler Bass of the Buffalo Bills made 104 straight from 2020 to 2022. Justin Tucker made 112 straight for the Baltimore Ravens from 2015 to 2018.
The all-time NFL record, which will likely never be touched, is 523 in a row, held by Stephen Gostkowski of the New England Patriots between 2006 and 2016. However, most of those kicks were made from the old 20-yard range, where you rarely ever saw a miss. The league changed it to a 33-yard kick in 2015, which changed the success rate quite a bit.
If he makes his first PAT attempt this season, Lutz will hit 100 makes in a row, which is certainly an impressive achievement.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Broncos kicker Wil Lutz close to hitting impressive PAT streak
