Evan McPherson is one clean kick away from putting his name alone in Bengals history.
The Cincinnati kicker heads into Sunday afternoon’s game in Houston with 17 straight field goals made, matching Shayne Graham for the second-longest streak in franchise history. If McPherson keeps it rolling against the Texans, he’ll move within reach of the team mark of 21, set by Graham in 2007.
McPherson’s run has been built on distance, not just volume. Since his last miss - a 54-yard try that came up short in Week 9 last year against the Chicago Bears - he has stacked together makes from 52, 54, 55, 57, 58 and a franchise-record 63 yards. More than a third of his current streak has come from beyond 50 yards, which tells you plenty about the kind of pressure he’s been handling.
That was on full display in the Bengals’ 33-27 season-opening win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, when McPherson went 4 for 4 and drilled kicks from 58 and 55 yards. Afterward, head coach Zac Taylor didn’t hold back.
“Evan coming up big and making those four field goals, he’s the best kicker in the league,” Taylor said after Sunday’s win, which included makes from 58 and 55 yards.
Graham’s place in the record book has a little more twist to it. He missed his first attempt in 2007 before running off 21 straight, and the kick that finally snapped that streak was a 26-yarder in Week 12 against the Tennessee Titans in a 35-6 win.
His earlier 17-kick run stretched across the 2005-06 seasons, with a long of 49 yards during that span. On his 21-kick streak, his longest make was 48 yards.
McPherson, though, has already separated himself in one major category. Since entering the league in 2021, he has hit 31 field goals from 50 yards or longer, tied with Jason Meyers for fifth most in the NFL over that stretch. Only Chris Boswell (44), Chase McLaughlin (41), Brandon Aubrey (41) and Ka’imi Fairbairn (39) have more.
He’s also become the most accurate kicker in Bengals history overall, connecting on 123 of 147 tries for 83.7 percent. That edges Mike Nugent’s 81.8 percent mark, which came on 157 of 192 attempts. From long range, the gap is even bigger: McPherson’s 31 field goals from 50-plus yards are nearly four times the next-highest total in team history, an eight-kick mark shared by Doug Pelfrey and Nugent.
There’s still a long way to go before anyone starts talking about the NFL record. Adam Vinatieri owns the regular-season mark with 44 straight made field goals, set in 2015-16 with the Indianapolis Colts. The combined regular season and postseason record is 46, set by Gary Anderson in 1997 with the San Francisco 49ers and in 1998 with the Minnesota Vikings.
McPherson’s next chance comes Sunday in a stadium he hasn’t yet visited. It will be his first game at NRG Stadium in Houston. And if he keeps the streak alive, the Bengals may be looking at another chapter in one of the franchise’s most reliable legs.
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