One of the most debated coaching decision of the 2016 season came back in November when Broncos coach Gary Kubiak allowed his kicker to attempt a 62-yard field goal in what turned out to be a 30-27 overtime loss to the Chiefs.
Although Brandon McManus missed the kick, there's a reason Kubiak actually let him try it, and that's because he nails kicks like that regularly in practice.
The Broncos kicker showed off his big leg again on Friday when he nailed a 73-yard field goal.
New Broncos coach Vance Joseph let McManus try two kicks from that distance, and the veteran kicker came through on one of of them.
Here's what it looks like when a kicker attempts a field goal from 73-yards away. On a kick from that far, the holder places the ball down at his own 37-yard line.
Although looks to be the kick McManus fell short on, Joseph was impressed with both kicks.
"That's a true weapon, guys. I mean, that was amazing," Joseph said after practice. "That was what, 73 yards, maybe? In the first one, he just swung his leg and he was, what, two yards off."
After missing the first one by just six feet, McManus promised to make his second attempt.
"The second one he said, 'I'll make it for you this time,'" Joseph said. "Well, thank you, I want to see that. Then he swung it. I mean, that's special."
After watching McManus hit from 73 yards, Joseph started to sound a lot like Kubiak, which means he's not going to be afraid to give McManus a few shots from far away during regular season games.
"Of course," Joseph said when asked if he's let McManus try extremely long field goals. "Whatever wins games, we want to go for it."
Letting a kicker trying a long field goal in Denver isn't exactly crazy. Former Broncos kicker Matt Prater holds the NFL record, which was set in 2013 when he hit a 64-yarder in Denver.
As a matter of fact, three of the five longest field goals in NFL history were kicked in Denver.
The ball allegedly travels farther in Denver's mile high air, a fact that Ravens kicker Justin Tucker pointed out in 2013. Tucker claims he once made a 79-yarder during warmups in Denver.
"In practice I've hit from 79 yards," Tucker said. "That was in Denver before our opener in September [2013]. The weather was perfect; the field was good. With the altitude in the Rocky Mountains, the ball jumps off your foot."
Tucker now seems to think he can hit an 84-yard field goal, and he might not be wrong. After all, he did hit a 75-yarder during warmups before the Pro Bowl in January.
Only 16 kickers in NFL history have even hit a field of 60 yards or more in a game, including Tucker, who nailed a 61-yarder against Detroit in December 2013.
Hitting a 70-yarder though is a different story, and that's mainly because there's not many kickers who could actually pull it off in a game.
Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski hit a 70-yarder in warmups once, but that came in Denver. Seahawks kicker Blair Walsh also once hit a 70-yarder in pregame warmups while he was playing for the Vikings.
If it's going to happen in a game, it's going to take a kicker with a huge leg playing for a coach who loves to gamble. Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, who's earned the nickname blackjack due to his in-game gambles, and Janikowski might be our best bet for ever seeing that happen.