ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For a proper perspective, Brandon McManus was a good kicker before he was spotted by television cameras throwing a temper tantrum.
It’s just that he’s been a perfect kicker ever since he got mad.
You, me, your neighbors and the barking dog saw McManus get mad at coach Vic Fangio for not getting a chance to attempt what would have been an NFL record-setting, 65-yard field goal on the final play of the first half in the Broncos’ win against the Los Angeles Chargers three weeks ago.
Since then, McManus has gone 4 of 4 in field goals – including blasts from 52 and 53 yards in the final 4:26 of regulation to beat the Chargers – and 5 of 5 in 33-yard extra points.
Is it possible there’s a correlation between his tiff and his hot streak?
"No question," said special teams coordinator Tom McMahon. "Anger is good. It leads to focus and there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s competitiveness. I see it out here on the (practice) field. I see it. Every day he’s coming out, trying to prove certain things. That’s good.
"I hope he gets really mad this weekend before he gets to — maybe Nadia (McManus’ wife) can do something to make him mad before he gets in his car. I hope so because he comes out and plays very well."
Weekend golfers who have wrapped a fairway wood around a tree (cough! cough!) might be surprised. Anger, if not channeled correctly, can cause one to fall apart. (cough! cough!)
That space between the ears is a complicated area. Mad McManus obviously triggered the correct cranium wire.
"I would definitely say the anger – this isn’t the first time," McManus said in a sit-down interview with 9NEWS this week. "Actually, in the fourth preseason game, I had a chance at 65-yarder at halftime, too. I was just as mad, it just wasn’t focused on me at that point on the sidelines.
"At the end of the day, it was a 65-yarder that could have broken the record, but I was thinking we could put 3 points on the board and I knew we had a chance to do that.
"But I would say anger definitely helps focus because one, I knew the camera was on me so I couldn’t miss my next kick. So it had a lot to do with anger and focus but it also had a lot to do with I didn’t want to make a fool of myself after doing that."
Ok, enough. Easy-going McManus has been making kicks ever since he replaced Matt Prater in 2014. Prater was sensational as the Broncos’ kicker from 2011-13, setting an NFL record that still holds with a 64-yard field goal in December of 2013.
But after Prater was slapped with a four-game suspension to start the 2014 season for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, the Broncos acquired McManus from the New York Giants for a conditional 7th-round draft pick.
The condition was McManus had to stick with the Broncos after Prater’s suspension elapsed. The 7th rounder was sent to New York.
"I was happy to finally have an opportunity," McManus said. "At the time there was not a lot of young kickers and it was really tough to get your foot in the door whereas now there’s a lot more younger guys. The previous year I was with the Indianapolis Colts, I didn’t miss a field goal. I led the NFL in kickoffs (touchback percentage). Same year with the Giants, I didn’t miss a field goal and I led the NFL in kickoff stats.
"I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t getting an opportunity. It was difficult to get your foot in the door so I was really happy to at least get four games out there and potentially showcase what I could do and I was able to perform pretty well.
"I can say it now six years later: They were pretty easy kicks I had the first four games. But I was happy I was able to stick around here and continue to perform here in Denver."
For the first time since McManus took his job, Prater returns to Denver today as kicker of the Detroit Lions. Prater has redeemed his life and continued to be one of the league’s best kickers.
"I’m still friends with Matt to this day," said McManus. "We have a lot of mutual friends in (punter) Britton Colquitt and (long-snapper) Aaron Brewer. We still talk when we’re on a group chat. Once a week we probably blurb with each other."
McManus’ 85.7 field goal percentage through 14 games this year ties with his 2015 season for the best of his career. And this a year when NFL kickers are missing field goals well, left and right. The league’s field goal percentage of 80.9 going into week 16 is the worst rate in 15 years – since league kickers combined for 80.8 percent in 2004.
Maybe it’s the pressure of social media that is turning more and more kickers into head cases.
"There’s a lot of younger guys nowadays compared to what there used to be," McManus said. "I don’t know if it’s the social impact on the younger guys trying to build the mental callous of a missed kick and how to bounce back. But there have been a ton of missed kicks this year."
What made 2015 McManus’ best season, though, was his performance during the Broncos run to Super Bowl 50. He made all 10 field goals in the postseason, including all 3 in Super Bowl 50 – which drew a shout out from President Barack Obama.
The Broncos have been nowhere near an invitation to the Rose Garden the past four years.
"It’s been difficult for us older guys," McManus said. "You mentioned our Super Bowl year, we were always known as winning. Always at the top of the division. Never losing any division games really. We won (five) straight AFC West championships. So that part has been difficult.
"We’re trying not to lean on what happened back then because it’s long gone. We have to figure out a new way to win. The Baltimore Ravens are finding new ways to win.
"I think this is the closest team we’ve had since that 2015 year. That was a really tight-knit team, a lot of hanging out between all the players. I think this team is starting to get that and we build with this young core which are the best players that we have. Which is key to building the future so I think everything’s aligning properly here and we just have to make it mesh, which is always the difficult part."
McManus missed a couple kicks earlier in the year he’d like back. A 45-yard field goal in the first Kansas City game. A missed 43-yarder late in the Broncos’ second-half collapse at Minnesota.
"And then in Green Bay a missed extra point I can’t believe I missed," he said.
It was one of only three extra points he’s missed in his six-season career. But those misses were all before he threw his helmet in a fit of rage. All McManus wanted was a chance to break the record Prater set six years ago.
The matchup today between the 5-9 Broncos and 3-10-1 Lions is not exactly an NFL headliner this weekend. But McManus vs. Prater could be an intriguing kick off.
"I think Matt, especially beyond 50 he’s probably the best of all time," McManus said. "I knew how good Matt was, especially his long kicks, his 50 yarders especially that Tebow year with all the game-winners. It was definitely something I knew what to expect when I was on the field and I wanted to perform in the same sense."
RELATED: Klemmer-Wallace lawsuit contesting their father Pat Bowlen's capacity in 2009 set for September 1
SUGGESTED VIDEOS | Sports
