With the way Evan McPherson has been kicking this season, Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor would have been surprised if his 63-yard field-goal attempt on Sunday hadn’t failed.
“He’s in great shape,” Taylor said. “Very confident. I think the operation has gone really well, and so we have a lot of confidence in him. So it’s not a surprise for him to take that opportunity — what was that 63-yarder? Didn’t really take a look at it. I double-checked with (special-teams coordinator) Darren (Simmons) to make sure we were in a good position there. He didn’t hesitate. And then once we got to the kick off. When you get in line, you assume it’s going in. Right now you’re at this point with Ivan.”
McPherson set a franchise record for longest field goal by connecting on the final snap of the first half against the New England Patriots, achieving his goal of kicking beyond the 50-yard line.
“I’ve always thought about it,” McPherson said. “It would be nice to get to the other side of the field someday, and I’m fortunate to be put in that position, to have that opportunity, that the coaches have the trust in me to go out there and be successful. And I’m glad they have that trust in me. …
“It feels good to get to the other side of the field. I think it’s impressive when other people do it, so I’m glad I was able to go out there and do that, too.”
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McPherson’s previous performance for Cincinnati was 59 yards and his college best performance was 55 yards for Florida. But McPherson kicked a 60-yard field goal for Fort Payne High School in the Wildcats’ 39–14 victory over Brewer on October 6, 2017.
Sunday’s 63-yarder was McPherson’s second NFL attempt from beyond 59 yards.
On October 12, McPherson kicked a 67-yard field goal against the Green Bay Packers. But it didn’t count because Green Bay called timeout just before the snap. On the re-kick, the football came just wide of the crossbar.
McPherson said he thought Sunday’s kick would have been good by “probably about 5 (yards) more.”
McPherson has made 17 of 20 field-goal attempts this season, missing from 54, 56 and 67. He also made a 54-yard field goal against New England.
Over his career, McPherson is 27 of 41 from 50 or more yards and 84 of 94 from inside 50.
There have only been six field goals longer than McPherson’s 63-yarder in NFL history, and it is the longest NFL field goal by an Alabama high school or college player. McPherson kicked a 62-yard field goal by Will Reichardt in the Minnesota Vikings’ 48–10 victory over Cincinnati on September 21. Reichardt played at Hoover High School and Alabama.
McPherson said, “It feels like this is my rookie year, I enjoyed getting over 50 attempts, and now it’s kind of changed, like getting over 60 is a lot of fun. Just go out there and go away and see what happens. And I feel like when we go out there, we’re looked at to make those kicks, and so I felt confident in how we’re hitting it in practice and operation and how everything is going. That’s why it felt good to run on the field.
McPherson’s 63-yard field goal came on the final snap of the first half against New England. With 18 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bengals got the ball at their own 18-yard line. A 21-yard run and 16-yard completion brought Cincinnati to the Patriots 45 with four seconds remaining.
“I felt like we had a good chance to make a shot there at the end of the half, and you never get out of it,” McPherson said. “And that’s what I’ve learned over the years is never take a break, never let your mind wander, because in the blink of an eye, you can be taken out for a long field goal at the end of the half. And so I think we’ve done a good job of staying in the game and not just waiting for halftime, and we’ve executed really well – snaps, holds, kicks. Everybody blocked really well. And, yeah, going out there and on them.” Really fun to try and glad it worked for us…
“I think that’s what I struggled with, like as a rookie with 20 seconds left in the first half, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, there’s no way we’re going to make the kick.’ And sure enough, you break up a long pass, break up a long run and you’re up. So I feel like from then on, it’s kind of like you’re never disappointed. You know, anything can happen, especially with this offense.”
McPherson and the Bengals will be back in action on Thanksgiving. Cincinnati will play the Baltimore Ravens in an AFC North game at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Thursday at 7:20 pm CST. NBC will televise the final game of the NFL’s holiday tripleheader.
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