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The Cincinnati Bengals won their first playoff game in 31 years last week against the Las Vegas Raiders. Today, they did one better by clinching a spot in their first AFC Championship game since 1988. It breaks the longest conference championship game drought in the league at 33 years, making the 2021 season quite historic for Cincinnati. It doesn't stop there though, as rookie kicker Evan McPherson nailed a 52-yard game-winning field goal, his eighth of the postseason. That ties Stephen Gostkowski's 2006 record for the most field goals by a rookie kicker in the postseason.
Bengals' Evan McPherson continues making NFL history as rookie
Watch the rookie clinch an AFC Championship game appearance for the Bengals below as time expired:
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The game and the season is on the line here and McPherson shows nerves of steel under pressure. Not only did he make the field goal, it made it clear and neat through the goal posts. We've seen veterans miss shorter field goals with the game on the line (sorry Vikings fans).
Kickers don't usually win many awards in the NFL, but you could easily argue to name Evan McPherson at least as a semi-finalist for Rookie of the Year. Maybe they should implement a Special Teams Rookie of the Year, as he has clearly been an MVP for the Bengals this year. The fifth-round selection from Florida was somewhat special even before entering the league. He was nailing trick-shot kicks while in college.
Even though he's a rookie, McPherson seems to be going with the flow as one of the best kickers in the league this year. Quarterback Joe Burrow spoke after the game and stated McPherson called his shot and said Cincinnati was going to the AFC Championship game prior to taking the field for the game-winning kick.
Cincinnati has a young man who is the first kicker in history to have made four field goals in multiple playoff games in the same season. He's gone 4/4 in his last two playoff games and tonight was his fourth game-winner of the year. When any player is that calm and cool under pressure, you know you've got something special.
