Super Bowl 2022: Bengals' Evan McPherson gets a kick out of streak

Bengals rookie kicker Evan McPherson wants to be legendary. He’s off to a great start.

McPherson is 12-for-12 on field-goal attempts in the playoffs. He needs three more in Sunday’s Super Bowl to break Adam Vinatieri’s 15-year-old record for a single postseason, and McPherson said he’s shooting for it. He has never met or spoken to Vinatieri, but he can’t wait for that opportunity.

"Adam’s a guy I looked up to and watched a lot of videos on," McPherson said. "I love to watch his run with the Patriots when he’s kicking game-winners in the Super Bowl. I think every kid’s dream is to kick the game-winning field goal in the Super Bowl. He’s definitely meant a lot to me in my career."

McPherson has kicked two game-winners in the Bengals’ unexpected run to the Super Bowl. He hit from 52 yards out as time expired in the divisional round in Tennessee and kicked a 31-yarder in overtime in the AFC Championship Game to knock out Kansas City.

Vinatieri has the only walk-off field goal in Super Bowl history. His 48-yarder lifted the Patriots over the Rams 20 years ago in Super Bowl XXXVI. McPherson wouldn’t mind doing that.

"I think it’s super-cool," he said. "If we get the opportunity to do that, I hope we come through with it."

McPherson usually comes through for Cincinnati.

The fifth-round pick from Florida has been successful on 40 of 45 attempts, playoffs included, and set a record with 12 field goals of at least 50 yards.

In an overtime loss to Green Bay in Week 5, McPherson missed his only two field-goal tries. He celebrated after seeing his overtime kick go straight off his foot, but it ended up being no good.

Since then, he is 35-for-37.

"Knowing that’s just one kick, it doesn’t define me," McPherson said. "The next one is the only one that matters. To fight through a little adversity is always good for kickers, just to see you if you could get over that hump. To see that I was able to was a big confidence-booster for me."

So much so that before McPherson’s kick against the Titans, he said to his teammates, "Looks like we’re going to the AFC Championship." McPherson told TMZ that before his game-winner against Kansas City, he said to holder Kevin Huber, "Let’s be legendary."

McPherson’s confidence right now is higher than many of his kicks.

"I think you really got to have it as a kicker," he said. "I feel like if you’re confident you’re going to go out here and hit the kick, there’s a better chance of it going in. You really have to go out there and know in your mind there’s really no way you can miss the kick. That’s kind of how I process going through a kick."