Talk about rising to the occasion!
Cincinnati Bengals rookie kicker Evan McPherson stepped into the biggest moment of his football career and handled it like a boss. He calmly put a 52-yard kick right through the uprights, giving the Bengals a 19-16 win over the Tennessee Titans and sending Cincy (+3.5) to the AFC Championship for the first time since the 1988-89 season.
Apparently, the kick was hardly the best part of McPherson’s heroics. Joe Burrow spoke after the game on McPherson’s final words as the rookie made his way from the sideline to the field with four seconds remaining in the game.
“So, he was talking to Brandon (Allen) as he was going out to kick, he gave a little warmup swing and said, ‘Ahhh, looks like we’re going to the AFC Championship'” laughed Burrow as he addressed the media.
Joe Burrow with an EPIC answer on Evan McPherson “looks like we’re going to AFC Championship.” #RuleTheJungle pic.twitter.com/FsB5JRtLRw
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) January 23, 2022
Add the kick, and the quote, to the impressive list of accomplishments for the rookie kicker — a list that includes:
- A game-winning field goal in Week 1
- A game-winning field goal in Week 4
- A Bengals record 58-yard field goal in Week 15
- A game-winning field goal in Week 17
And as McPherson said, the Bengals are headed to the AFC Championship. They’ll face the winner of Bills-Chiefs on Sunday night.
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