Of the many problems plaguing the Cincinnati Bengals, Evan McPherson's inaccuracy from deep is perhaps the most nerve-wracking. Long gone feel the days of McPherson being automatic from 50 yards or more to advance the Bengals to the promise land. Watching him kick from that distance now feels like disaster waiting to happen.
The problem with kicker slumps is they're usually mental. It's an extremely isolating job in the ultimate team sport. Misses can compound in the head of the player who can determine wins and losses with one swing of the foot, and sometimes, there's no explanation as to why.
But McPherson does believe there's an explanation for his struggles, which means it can be fixed.
After Cincinnati's first practice coming off the bye week, McPherson talked to reporters about what's he noticed from his recent misses. The commonality is they're almost exclusively missing to the left, whereas his misses have almost always been to the right.
"My whole career, since I've started kicking, my miss has always been right," McPherson said. "And for the for these to be left, it's pretty interesting for me. And so I feel like the bye week, and then this week, my focus is just figuring that out and figuring out what I'm doing wrong and trying to make corrections."
Evan McPherson “totally unplugged” during bye week and is ready to get back to form. pic.twitter.com/yftKnTJ1gJ
— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 25, 2024
McPherson has six missed field goals this season (only Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo has missed more), and only one of them have been pushed right. Hooking misses to the left has become a common visual for McPherson after a career spent ensuring he doesn't go too far right.
There are no perfect analogies for these dynamics, but even the average golfer can comprehend fighting a hook or slice. The way McPherson describes it, hooking kicks to the left is a bit like overcompensating.
"Well, usually right-footed kicker has a right miss," McPherson explained. "Normally, just because you're a little late, you're hitting it with your leg a little bent, and you're not catching it clean, and you're not fully locked out. And so the ball is just kind of weak and fast, spinning off to the right, but left, you can kind of come into play like your toe can wrap. You could pull a little harder and just tug it a little bit, that's what I say.
"So yeah, I feel like for a righty, normal miss is right just from not pulling through harder than you usually do. But maybe I'm just over compensating and swinging a little too hard."
The Bengals can't treat McPherson like they would with other struggling players. They just signed him to a three-year extension in August and have no one on the roster to replace him. The best an only option is to see how he responds in these last six weeks, which could very well be what determines his future in Cincinnati.
Being in the right headspace is a start.
"Mentally, it's been just fine for me. I feel like I haven't felt negatively about this season," McPherson said. "I feel like I'm hitting the ball well, I'm just not putting the ball where it needs to go. So mentally, I feel like I should just continue doing what I'm doing, but just find those little things here and there that are going to help me put the ball through the upright. And I feel like it's walking out there with a little more confidence in myself and knowing that day in, day out, practice, pregame, I do the same thing as I do during the game, so just really understanding and not overthinking kind of what I'm doing."
The bye week may've come at the perfect time for McPherson to reset and refocus. Cincinnati will not be able to fight back towards the playoffs without him regaining his form.
This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.
