CINCINNATI — What Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons sees on the practice field and in pregame warmups is one of the best kickers in the NFL. What Evan McPherson feels on the practice field and in warmups is a Pro Bowl-type of strength.
Unfortunately for both, that hasn’t translated to the games.
Evan McPherson has already missed four field goal attempts this season, one shy of his total in each of his first three seasons in the NFL.
McPherson, drafted in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, has been so clutch for the Bengals in his young career that he earned a three-year, $16.5 million extension before the season, keeping him in Cincinnati through 2027.
In his career, he is 89-for-108 in field goal attempts and 146-for-153 on extra points in the regular season, including 21-for-28 from 50 yards and beyond.
In addition to his solid regular season performance, what really stands out is his 19-for-19 perfect mark for field goals in two postseasons, including his 14-for-14 that is among the greatest playoff marks for any kicker ever.
He was extended because of his reliability. This year, it’s been a different story, especially from 50 yards and out, where he is just 3-for-6, including a miss on what would’ve been the game-winner in overtime against Baltimore. Obviously, it’s hard to pin that one on him because of the shaky snap and fumbled hold.
There have been no hints of any struggle from McPherson in practice or pregame, where he feels he’s been hitting them solid.
“Oh, yeah. I feel like I’m hitting the ball about as good as I ever have,” McPherson told me. “If you watch me pregame or at practice, you’d say I’d probably be having a Pro Bowl year. But it’s just not translating into the game, which is pretty frustrating. I’ll figure that out and we’ll get it straightened up.”
Sunday in warmups, he hit one from 60 yards, with plenty to spare. But in the game, he missed from 54 wide left that would’ve put the Bengals up 13-7.
“I feel like in pregame I feel really good,” McPherson added. “I haven’t missed in pregame in two or three weeks. I feel really good going into the games, it’s just situations I’ve been put in I haven’t been able to come through during the games, which is super frustrating.”
“I think Evan needs to carry over what happens in pregame warm up over into the games, and he’d be the first to tell you that too,” Simmons said. “I mean, pregame warmup has been spectacular. He’s ripping it in pregame, and we just got to carry that over into games. And he’s been able to do that throughout his career. That’s why I have zero hesitation that he’ll get back to where he was. I think we just got to continue to have time on task with all three of these guys.
“Ultimately, in the end, these guys are judged by makes and misses, and that’s what I told him, too, that their most important ability is reliability and dependability and when their number’s called, they’ve got to execute. So to answer your question, ultimately, in the end, they’re judged on makes and misses. I think the one thing that makes Evan very unique, and I’ve said this since the day we got him, is his ability compartmentalize everything. He’s a super positive person. Nothing affects him or his confidence, and that’s why I like him and and he’ll pull through this, just like Cal will pull through this, just like I think I have confidence Ryan will pull through it too. So have a lot of confidence in them all.”
Simmons sees parallels between the inconsistencies of the kicking game and the team overall. The Bengals haven’t been consistent enough this year and it’s cost them games.
“What you have to do is be super consistent on a daily basis,” Simmons added. “I have a high degree of belief in what we do not only in the kicking game, but what we do as a team. Because I’ve seen us use the same approach and it worked in years past. Now the difference is we have some different players in different spots. That’s the obvious thing and we have to evolve. We have to find out what that evolution needs to be. I have a high degree of confidence like most do that we can pull out of this.
“We have to maintain consistency. Whether it’s having all the players we need to be available to us are available to us. And then getting young guys to improve. We’re playing with a lot of young players here. It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. But we have a lot of young guys that are getting great experience and they’ll keep working to improve and we’ll keep working with them to get them to improve.”
Simmons knows that the Bengals have a special quarterback that can do special things if he’s given a chance but the burden cannot be entirely on Joe Burrow’s shoulders. That was part of his basic message Monday as a special teams coordinator.
“I think we have a lot of high character guys who will help right the ship,” Simmons said. “When you have a quarterback like we have and some teams do not, it always gives you hope. He can’t do it on his own. I get that. I think the one part about it is I don’t think we’ve put together a game where we’ve been great on offense, great on defense, and great in special teams. We haven’t done that yet for whatever reason. That’s what we have to get to. Get to where we’re all playing consistently at the same time. If we can ever get to that point, obviously we’ll be better.”
