SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR: K Evan McPherson
Yes, the Bengals finally have that guy. A guy with a game-winning leg. McPherson, the only kicker drafted back in April, has already checked plenty of boxes in his first nine games.
- A 50-yarder. It came on his first NFL field-goal attempt, a 53-yarder.
- An overtime winner in his first NFL game.
- A last-snap winner in his first prime-time game.
- Back-to-back field goals at the end of the half in road wins over the Lions and Ravens.
- Tied for seventh with 32 touchbacks on his kickoffs, one more than the great Justin Tucker.
But his most impressive accomplishment has been what he's done after his lowest moment, missing two winners against Green Bay on a 57-yarder that hit the right upright at the end of regulation and an overtime 49-yarder that blew left at the last possible instant and brushed the flag.
In the 33 days since, McPherson has hit all six and that includes a 52-yarder, one of three 50s already to his credit.
"The thing that people have to remember is this guy should be a college senior right now. He's still a young guy. You don't see kickers come out that often," said Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons this week. "The way he bounced back after what happened in the Green Bay game, I think he's been spectacular.
"He's very confident. He's very mature beyond his years, which is something you've got to have from that position. You've got to have short-term memory. They know they're only as good as the last kick, and he put that Green Bay game behind him real quick."
Simmons, the NFL's longest-tenured kicking game coach, hasn't been prone to handing out compliments easily during his 19 seasons running the Bengals special teams. But McPherson has won him over with days like this past Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium against the Browns.
No late heroics. No long bombs. Just a 27-yarder and realization of what the tricky Ohio River wind was doing above Paul Brown Stadium, showing what he had learned since the Packers game.
"(The wind) started going toward the city, and it changed before kickoff a bit and Evan recognizes that, and he told me that had we kicked off, he thought we would kick off to the river," Simmons said, "and I think you saw the guy from Cleveland was supposed to hit it toward the city and hit it pretty short. That tells me he's getting experience.
"He's understanding the wind patterns, which is really half of his job, understanding wind pattern in each stadium we go to, so I think he's maturing. He is already mature but he's still maturing at a very rapid rate, which is very good for that position."
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November 13, 2021 at 06:02AM
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Hobson's Choice Awards For Midseason Bengals - Bengals.com
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