Darrin Simmons Chimes In On Evan McPherson's Struggles

Bengals kicker Evan McPherson struggled in New England, missing two extra-point attempts (one was nullified by penalty) and a 43-yard field goal. 

It was a cold, windy day in Foxborough, which certainly contributed to his struggles. 

"I don’t think it’s solely that. I think a lot of that was the conditions," Bengals special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons said on Tuesday. "Especially when you compare it to someone like Nick Folk who’s very good and has kicked in those conditions for a long time had exactly the same problem in the same end missed in the same spot. I thought Evan was OK in pre-game warmup. 

"I do know that when it is cold outside, it is more difficult for those guys to get through the ball. Your muscles just don’t respond the same, everything is slower. Everything is tighter so I certainly think that had an affect on him."

McPherson has made 22-of-27 field goal attempts and 37-of-41 extra-point attempts this season. He'd have to go 6-for-6 to match his field goal numbers from last season (28-of-33). He also made 46-of-48 extra-point attempts as a rookie. 

The Bengals plan on playing in plenty of cold weather throughout the postseason. How can McPherson adjust to ensure that Saturday's issues don't impact the team in the playoffs?

"He’s got to learn to develop and maintain his timing. I think it’s got to be a bigger focus to him that he’s got to go a little faster and he’s got to pull harder," Simmons said. "It’s a fine balance that you walk. I think the field goal that he hit down there he tried to pull, the two PATs he missed he pushed were both right. The field goal he pulled left. We talked about on the sideline, he’s got to fire through it. He’s got to pull hard to get through and he was pulling a little too hard. It’s a very delicate balance that you have deal with that. I think he’ll pull through it. We’ve played in some cold games, it was cold in Tennessee. It wasn’t as cold in KC a year ago, I’m talking the divisional round. It was cold then. Not quite like it was yesterday. Saturday was a top two or three game for me in terms of being cold. It was cold. But it’s certainly something he’s got to learn from and comeback from, we’ll try and get it fixed."

Simmons trusts that McPherson is going to figure it out. The 23-year-old has responded well to adversity and the Bengals are going to need him to do it again with a primetime matchup against Buffalo looming. 

The Bengals and Bills meet on Monday Night Football at 8:15 p.m. ET. The game airs on ESPN and is available on fuboTV—start your free trial here.