Tag: Evan McPherson

Bengals shut down Evan McPherson amid roster moves

The Bengals made several more notable roster moves.

The Cincinnati Bengals effectively ended Evan McPherson’s season on Wednesday before the team takes on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 14.

The Bengals confirmed the reported signing of kicker Cade York. In the announcement of roster moves, the team also confirmed McPherson would go to injured reserve and announced the signing of offensive tackle Andrew Stueber to the active roster.

McPherson had a wildly disappointing season before what the team is calling a groin injury. That, after signing his extension this past offseason.

While McPherson could technically return to the active roster for Week 18 after missing the mandatory four games, it’s hard to imagine the Bengals let that happen with the season effectively lost.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals sign kicker after Evan McPherson injury news

Roster moves for the Bengals after a surprise injury.

The Cincinnati Bengals surprised on Wednesday before Week 14 by revealing that kicker Evan McPherson could miss a few weeks with a groin injury.

According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Bengals signed kicker Cade York to the practice squad, and he will be the starting kicker for the team with McPherson sidelined.

The groin injury for McPherson apparently won’t end his season, but it is significant enough that the team felt it necessary to add outside help in the interim.

York has previously spent time with the Commanders and Browns. As for McPherson, as of this writing, no word on if this injury has played a role in his poor season to date.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Evan McPherson reveals surprising No. 1 defender in Bengals locker room

The top Bengals player who has Evan McPherson’s back is one of the biggest names on the team.

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson has had a brutal season so far, which has been a pretty good sign of how things have gone overall for the team.

But McPherson’s getting some support from key pieces within the locker room.

After the bye week, McPherson revealed that he’s actually apologized to guys like Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase for letting them down. In the process, he also revealed that it’s Chase who has come to his defense the most.

“I like to apologize to those guys because those guys play their tail off and for me not to come through at the end, it really sucks,” McPherson said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “We give each other a hard time even if we’re struggling. He’s just a good guy. A good supportive teammate. He told me he’s always going to support me good or bad, win or lose. He’s always going to be there for me. I really appreciate that guy. Really good teammate.” …

It’s a really cool peek behind the curtain. Unsurprising but cool — players, like fans, understand that one player alone shouldn’t get all the blame or praise for wins and losses.

While it’s easy to speculate that things might not be great in the Bengals’ locker room right now (no matter what Zac Taylor is doing with ping-pong tables), this sort of comment shows otherwise.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals have a horrific Evan McPherson problem

What’s going on with Bengals kicker Evan McPherson?

The falloff for Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson has been sudden and, in some cases, season-defining for the Bengals.

McPherson, affectionately called Money Mac and other names by fans, has been anything but this year. Over 11 games, he’s gone 15-of-21 and missed four of seven attempts from 40-plus yards.

A 71.4 percent overall average ranks McPherson tied for 36th in the league entering Week 12.

The struggles have started to carry over and impact other areas of the Bengals, too, with Zac Taylor opting to get more aggressive in some spots because he clearly can’t trust the kicking game.

And while the Bengals have many, many problems, there are also alarming details like this:

 

Earlier this year, special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons admitted that the operation of the kick has been part of the problem. McPherson is on his fourth holder in as many seasons.

“I think that’s contributed to some of it. There’s no question that the one in the Baltimore game was not a very good snap, and it wasn’t a good hold. I think that was pretty obvious to everybody,” Simmons said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I think the operation wasn’t perfect in the Cleveland game, frankly. I still expect Evan to make that kick, although it makes it more difficult when the snap’s not exactly right and the hold’s not exactly right.

That was late October, though, and the problems have remained. If all involved haven’t figured it out by now, perhaps the only route for the Bengals is waiting and seeing if their 25-year-old big-money kicker can figure it out over the rest of the season.

The Bengals gave McPherson a $14 million extension this past August, and wiggling out of it next offseason wouldn’t be ideal. But as if this season weren’t wonky enough for the Bengals, the rest of the year almost feels like an audition for him.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Everything to know from Chargers’ win over Bengals

Here’s our recap of the Chargers’ thrilling win over the Bengals.

What. A. Game.

The Chargers outlasted the Bengals on Sunday night, improving to 7-3.

Here’s our recap of the Week 11 win.

It was over when…

J.K. Dobbins rushed for a 29-yard touchdown with 18 seconds remaining.

Notable number

According to ESPN’s Benjamin Solak, Justin Herbert now has 15 game-winning drives in his career. Only Patrick Mahomes and Kirk Cousins have more since 2020 when Herbert entered the league.

3 stars of the game

  1. QB Justin Herbert: Herbert was lights out in the first half. While he wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second half, Herbert made two big throws on the final drive to guide the team to victory.
  2. WR Ladd McConkey: McConkey finished with 123 yards on six catches, including two big receptions on the final possession to put the Chargers in Bengals territory.
  3. RB J.K. Dobbins: Dobbins had 11 carries for 56 yards and two rushing touchdowns, including the game-winner.

Quick hits

  • Herbert delivered dime after dime in the first half, completing 10 of 14 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. But that same level of play didn’t carry over into the second half.
  • The Chargers could not move the ball and went three and out on half of their offensive possessions, all while the Bengals crept back to tie the game off of 21 unanswered points, led by Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins.
  • The Bengals had two opportunities in the fourth quarter to take the lead, but Evan McPherson missed his go-ahead field goal attempts from 48 and 51 yards.
  • In previous years, Los Angeles would have blown that type of game (it gave me flashbacks to the playoff loss to the Jaguars). But the defense made a big stop at the end, Herbert rallied the offense with two big throws to McConkey, and Dobbins delivered the knockout punch.
  • Herbert finished the game 17-of-36 passing for 297 yards, two touchdowns, and five carries for 65 yards. While he didn’t benefit from some dropped passes, there were a few instances of him missing receivers in the second half. Herbert also lost a fumble early in the fourth quarter.
  • For the first time this season, the Chargers’ defense gave up more than 20 points. They allowed the Bengals to convert on all three of their fourth-down attempts. Cincinnati totaled 452 yards.

What’s next?

The Chargers host the Ravens next Monday night, Nov. 25, at 5:15 pm PT.

Auburn earns first SEC victory of the season against Kentucky

It took until the final week of October, but the Auburn Tigers finally won a conference football game.

It took until the final week of October, but the Auburn Tigers (3-5) finally won a conference football game. After trailing 10-0 after the first frame, the Tigers responded with 24 unanswered points, earning their first SEC win of the season over Kentucky (3-5) to give themselves a fighter’s chance at earning bowl eligibility.

It looked like it would be the same old story for the Tigers early on after Kentucky followed up an opening scripted drive field goal with a quick touchdown to take a 10-0 lead, but Auburn’s defense, specifically defensive end Keldric Faulk, stepped up in a major way for the remainder of the contest. Despite the defense finding some footing, Auburn’s offense struggled to put together any consistency early, ultimately going scoreless for the first quarter-plus.

The Tigers would score in every quarter remaining however. After a miss-hit punt by Kentucky punter Aiden Laros set up Auburn near mid field early in the second quarter, the Tigers took advantage with a quartet of punishing runs by the backfield duo of [autotag]Jarquez Hunter[/autotag] and [autotag]Damari Alston[/autotag] to set up an eventual [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] touchdown to put the Tigers on the board early in the second stanza. Auburn would add an [autotag]Evan McPherson[/autotag] field goal before the quarter expired, leading to a 10-10 deadlock entering the half.

Much like the second quarter, the final 30-minutes of Saturday’s contest was all Auburn. The Tigers scored another 14 second half points off the back of a career-best night from senior Jarquez Hunter, who would go on to rush for 278 yards and 2 touchdowns. Now the leading rusher in the SEC, Hunter added 19 receiving yards as well, finishing just 3 yards short of a 300 all-purpose yard game. Saturday was Hunter’s first ever 200+ yard rushing performance in his Auburn career. The total was just 29 yards behind Curtis Kuykendall’s all-time single game record for rushing yards by a Tiger. The senuor now sits in fourth place on the all-time list, behind only Kuykendall, Tre Mason (304 yards, 2013), and Bo Jackson (290, 1985).

While Hunter’s career-day was the highlight, the overarching theme of Saturday’s contest gives optimism to an Auburn team needing to win three of its final four games to qualify for a bowl. Saturday showed how effective Auburn can be when the offense takes care of the football, and the Tigers will have a lot of good tape to build on as they head back to the Plains for a massive contest with a rejuvenated Vanderbilt squad.

Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on  X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter @TheRealBHauch

Bengals, Evan McPherson agree to massive contract extension

The Bengals get the deal done with Evan McPherson.

The Cincinnati Bengals have completed the expected extension with kicker Evan McPherson.

Per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, it’s a three-year, $16.5 million extension that gives him $10 million in new money over the first year of the deal.

McPherson has been a star for the Bengals since arriving via the fifth round in 2021. He’s posted a perfect playoff mark of 19-for-19 and has made 21 kicks of 50-plus yards, the most ever for a kicker over his first three seasons.

To date, McPherson has only missed seven kicks of 50-plus yards and overall has made 83.9 percent of his attempts.

McPherson’s rookie contract was set to expire after the 2024 season.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Mike Brown confirms Bengals, Evan McPherson contract extension talks

The Bengals want to get one of their key pieces extended.

The Cincinnati Bengals have kicker Evan McPherson in mind for an extension.

So confirmed Mike Brown himself at Monday’s annual luncheon, revealing that the talks have already happened.

Brown said the following, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway: “We’ve been talking to Evan McPherson, we’re hoping we can get there with him.”

A fifth-round pick in 2021, McPherson is one of the franchise’s most accurate kickers to date and enters 2024 on the last year of his rookie deal.

The Bengals like to get extensions done before the season, so this one isn’t a shocker — especially for a kicker who has hit 83.9 percent of his overall attempts, including 21 of 28 from 50-plus yards.

Before this, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin confirmed contract extension talks with Ja’Marr Chase.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Bengals kicker Evan McPherson talks about kickoff changes

Evan McPherson has thoughts about the league’s new kickoff rules.

Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson has some robust thoughts about the NFL’s changes to the kickoff rule going into the 2024 season.

On one hand, McPherson’s quotable about whether or not the change feels like football will make massive headlines.

On the other, his attitude about adjusting to the changes will assuredly be widespread amongst players.

“It doesn’t feel too much like football,” McPherson said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “But I’m sure it will.

It’s definitely interesting. It brings a lot of placement into play. It’s all touch. It feels weird for me,” McPherson said. “I’m used to kicking it as high as I can, as hard as I can. Now I have to throw it inside to the 5-yard line in specific areas. It’s definitely an adjustment. You have to play the wind a lot more now.”

In short, kickers line up at the 35-yard line now and aren’t allowed to cross the 50 until the ball hits the ground or a player in the last 20 yards near the endzone. The other 10 coverage players can’t move until the latter occurs.

For McPherson, his shots out the back of the endzone are now reduced to higher-up chips. But even he says the changes won’t impact his other important duty when it comes to kicking field goals.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]

Look: Two Bengals players become fathers on same day

An amazing moment for two Bengals players.

Two current Cincinnati Bengals players welcomed newborn babies on the same day.

On March 15, both Evan McPherson and Logan Wilson became first-time dads at the same hospital, making sure the two families got a photo together which was posted to Instagram.

Wilson and his wife, Morgan, named their daughter Kambry James Wilson, sharing photos in which Logan Wilson wore a T-shirt that said “Girl dad.”

McPherson and his wife, Gracie, named their daughter Merritt Hayes McPherson, sharing photos in which Evan McPherson was wearing a hat that read “Girl dad.”

https://www.instagram.com/loganwilsonlb/p/C4tg5b_gabW/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/evan_mcpherson04/p/C4rGQU0LHFf/?hl=en

https://www.instagram.com/loganwilsonlb/p/C4nqGhhg5B7/?hl=en

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1]