Evan McPherson thought he had 3, but it was not to be.
In a cringe-inducing moment on Sunday against the visiting Green Bay Packers, the Cincinnati Bengals kicker believed he’d booted a 49-yard field goal to win the game in overtime. He watched the ball sail toward the goal post and jumped into the arms of holder Kevin Huber.
But McPherson didn’t see that the ball missed. Oof.
What’s more, the Packers’ Mason Crosby did make his 49-yard attempt a few minutes later in overtime, leading to a 25-22 victory.
McPherson’s embarrassing highlight is best viewed from two angles. Here’s the shot from behind the goal post, showing the entire kick as McPherson and Huber cheer prematurely from afar:
And here’s McPherson and Huber rejoicing up close. If you look carefully, you can see a Packers player already celebrating the miss:
“Honestly I was celebrating before the ball, I guess, curved to the left,” McPherson said, according to ProFootballTalk. “But for me, what I saw is I struck it very well, and I saw it going right down the middle. I guess you could say I know whenever it’s going to go in, and that was one of those moments, and so I was kind of celebrating with Kevin when it hit a hard left.”
“I couldn’t really tell you – maybe a big gust of wind caught it there at the last second,” he added of the final miss. “I’m upset about it, but there’s really nothing I can do about it now.”
McPherson’s gaffe was somewhat reminiscent of when Minnesota Vikings broadcaster Paul Allen mistakenly celebrated just as Greg Joseph missed a game-winning 37-yard field goal against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals won, 34-33.
