Cincinnati Bengals kicker Evan McPherson’s slump could be costly.

CINCINNATI – The decline in kicker Evan McPherson’s accuracy may be the most shocking development in a Cincinnati Bengals season full of failures.

Yes, the defense is a train wreck, but no one expected that group to win games for the team. The hope was just that it wouldn’t lose them.

That wish, like so many of McPherson’s kicks, went way wide of the mark.

The expectation for McPherson, who signed a three-year extension worth $16.5 million in August, was that he would be a weapon and a difference-maker.

And he has been. Just the wrong kind. Self-inflicted wounds make a big difference.

After chip shots from 26 and 27 yards in the first half in Sunday’s 34-27 road loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, McPherson’s slump continued in the fourth quarter after the Bengals rallied from a 21-point deficit to take the game into to bring balance.

With the score tied 27-27, McPherson missed a 48-yard attempt with 7:31 remaining.

After the defense came up with an improbable fourth three-and-out of the second half to give McPherson another chance, he missed from 51 with 1:48 to go.

“He knows how to make those kicks,” said frustrated wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. “That’s why we paid him that money, to make those kicks in crunch time.”

This is how McPherson made a name (and nickname) as a newcomer. Money Mac was one of the league’s most compelling kickers with walk-off winners in the Divisional Round and AFC Championship Game, along with two in the regular season and a groundbreaking, franchise-record 58 yardser just before halftime in a road game . victory in Denver.

But McPherson has made just 15 of 21 field goals this season. That 71.4 percent success rate ranks 29th among the 32 kickers with at least 10 attempts.

Also in 2023, McPherson is 41 of 52 (78.8 percent), which ranks 28th among 29 kickers with at least 25 attempts.

Sunday night marked only the second time in his career that he missed multiple field goals in a game, and the first time since a windy day early in his rookie season.

“We have a lot of confidence in Evan,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “It just wasn’t his day today.”

Taylor really has no choice but to express his confidence in McPherson.

Fans screaming for the team to cut him are delusional. As much as McPherson has struggled, there are no available kickers that would inspire even more confidence and there are zero with McPherson’s track record from when everything went right.

The Bengals need to stay the course.

At least until the end of this season.

They have a potential cap on his contract after 2024 that would cost them just $3.8 million in dead money, saving $6.9 million.

The next six games will be huge for McPherson if he wants to see out the remaining three seasons of his contract.

McPherson, and many of his teammates, had left the visitors’ locker room at SoFi Stadium by the time reporters came in after the news conferences with Taylor and quarterback Joe Burrow down the hall.

But a few weeks ago, after a missed 54-yarder against Philadelphia, McPherson said his confidence was still high and “there’s no reason for that to be low.”

In his first two seasons, including the playoffs, McPherson was 17 of 19 from more than 50 yards.

In the last two seasons he was 10 of 19.

Overall, he was 71 out of 81 (87.7 percent) in 2021-2022.

Since then he is 41 out of 52 (78.8 percent).

Taylor said he did not expect the team to part ways with McPherson or make any other major changes to the roster or coaching staff during the bye week.

“I think we’re all watching the game. We see it comes down to one play in every match,” he said. “So why make a big change if it only happens once? To me that’s just panic. That’s not what we’re about. We believe in what we do. We’re not going to be those people who just panic because the record is 4-7 and we’re starting to make all these important changes. That is not the answer.”

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