The way that 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 gone through the uprights.
“He’s in a great rhythm,” Taylor said. “Has a lot of confidence. I think the operation’s been really good, and so we have a lot of confidence in him. So it’s not surprising for him to take that opportunity that -- what was it 63 yards? Really didn’t bat an eye at it. I double-checked with (special-teams coordinator) Darren (Simmons) just to make sure we’re in good shape there. He didn’t hesitate. And then once we line up for the kick, you just assume it’s going in. That’s the point you’re at with Evan right now.”
McPherson set the franchise record for the longest field goal by connecting on the final snap of the first half against the New England Patriots and achieved his goal of making a kick from beyond the 50-yard line.
“I’ve always thought about it,” McPherson said. “It would be cool to get one on the other side of the field one day, and I’m just blessed to be put in that situation, that opportunity, that the coaches trust me to go out there and make it. And I’m just glad that they have that trust in me. …
“It feels good to get one on the other side of the field. I think it’s impressive when other guys do it, so I’m just happy that I could go out there and do it as well.”
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McPherson’s previous long for Cincinnati had been 59 yards, and his college best had been 55 yards for Florida. But McPherson made a 60-yard field goal for Fort Payne High School in the Wildcats’ 39-14 victory over Brewer on Oct. 6, 2017.
Sunday’s 63-yarder was McPherson’s second NFL attempt from beyond 59 yards.
Against the Green Bay Packers on Oct. 12, McPherson made a 67-yard field goal. But it didn’t count because Green Bay called timeout just before the snap. On the re-kick, the football came up short of the crossbar.
McPherson said he thought Sunday’s kick would have been good from “maybe about another 5 (yards).”
McPherson has made 17-of-20 field-goal attempts this season, with the misses coming from 54, 56 and 67. He also made a 54-yard field goal against New England.
During his career, McPherson is 27-of-41 from 50-or-more yards and 84-of-94 from inside 50.
There have been only six field goals in NFL history longer than McPherson’s 63-yarder, and it’s the longest NFL field goal by a player from an Alabama high school or college. McPherson surpassed the 62-yard field goal made by Will Reichard in the Minnesota Vikings’ 48-10 victory over Cincinnati on Sept. 21. Reichard played at Hoover High School and Alabama.
“Feel like my rookie year, I enjoyed the 50-plus attempts,” McPherson said, “and now it’s kind of switched to, like, 60-plus is a lot of fun. Just go out there and swing away and kind of 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 going into it with how we’ve been hitting it in practice and the operation and how everything’s going. So felt good running out on the field for that one.”
McPherson’s 63-yard field goal came on the final snap of the first half against New England. The Bengals got the ball on their 18-yard line with 18 seconds left in the first half. A 21-yard run and a 16-yard completion got Cincinnati to the Patriots 45 with four seconds left.
“I felt like we had a good chance to get a shot there at the end of the half, and you’re never out of it,” McPherson said. “And that’s kind of what I learned throughout the years is never take time off, never let your mind wander, because in a blink of an eye, you can be thrown out there for a long field goal at the end of the half. And so I think we did a good job staying in the game and not just looking forward to halftime, and we executed really well -- snap, hold, kick. Everybody blocked really well. And, yeah, it’s just a lot of fun to get to go out there and attempt those and just really happy that this one worked out for us. …
“I feel like that’s kind of what I struggled with, like, as a rookie is there’s 20 seconds left in the first half, I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s no way we’re going to kick.’ And sure enough, you break a long pass, break a long run and you’re up. So I feel like since then, it’s just kind of you never take a down off. You know, anything can happen, especially with this offense.”
McPherson and the Bengals will be back in action on Thanksgiving. Cincinnati plays the Baltimore Ravens at 7:20 p.m. CST Thursday at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore in an AFC North game. NBC will televise the final game of the NFL’s holiday tripleheader.