When we think of Super Bowls, kickers aren’t usually the first position that comes to mind. However, Cincinnati’s Evan McPherson has begun to build a legacy in his rookie year and is looking to bolster it at SoFi... while we're looking to bolster our wallets by cashing in on his Super Bowl odds.
The fifth-round selection is a perfect 12-for-12 in the postseason, including hitting all three from 50-plus. He hit the game-winning kick to send the Bengals to the Super Bowl and drilled a 52-yarder as time expired to win the Divisional round. Could McPherson be the hero in Super Bowl 56?
We take a look in our best Super Bowl 56 player prop bet for Evan McPherson.
Super Bowl 56 kicking points odds
The odds below represent the best odds available for each player's touchdown market from regulated US sportsbooks.
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Evan McPherson's kicking points pick
- Evan McPherson Over 7.5 total points (-115)
Pick made on February 2, 2022.
The Cincinnati kicker has topped his kicking point total in each of his three postseason games and it hasn’t even been a sweat. The limber leg from Florida finished with 14 points in the Wild Card round and 13 points in both the Divisional round and Conference Championship. He’s made four field goals in each game and hasn’t missed a kick since Week 16. We know he has the accuracy and the leg (58-yard long) to hit when called upon, but betting kicker props has just as much to do with game situations as talent.
Making four field goals against the Chiefs is not an easy task. Most coaches think you can’t beat Patrick Mahomes with field goals but Zac Taylor proved that adage wrong in the AFC Championship game where McPherson hit from 32, 31, 52, and 31. Teams averaged just 1.4 field-goal attempts per game versus the Chiefs this season, which was the second-lowest in the league.
???? 4 game winners
— NFL (@NFL) January 28, 2022
???? 11 FGs of 50+ yards including playoffs (Most in a single season in NFL history)
???? Longest FG in Bengals history (58 yards)
Evan McPherson did ALL of that as a rookie.
????: #CINvsKC -- Sunday 3pm ET on CBS??
????: NFL app pic.twitter.com/ojJqjzON3A
The Bengals didn’t even try a single fourth-down conversion versus the Chiefs and Taylor has kept his offense on the field on fourth down just once in the postseason — on 4th and 1 on Las Vegas’ 31-yard line with three minutes remaining in the second half. This team trusts McPherson. And Taylor has been one of the more conservative coaches on fourth down with just 1.1 attempts per game, which ranks in the Bottom 5 of the league. He kicked a field goal in the Wild Card game on 4th and one on the Raiders’ 10-yard line in the fourth quarter.
A couple of other things have forced Taylor’s hand in these situations: Joe Burrow taking sacks when in field-goal range and the offense taking untimely penalties. Four of McPherson’s postseason field goals have come on the same series as Burrow getting sacked while another four have come following an offensive penalty that has pushed the offense back.
Additionally, this Cincinnati offense has been dreadful inside the 20 over the last three games and has scored a touchdown on just four of its 11 red-zone trips. The Rams finished the season with the 12th-best red-zone defense and averaged 2.0 field goals against per game, which ranked in the Top 15.
The environment is also on the kicker’s side as the indoor confines of SoFi Stadium will make things much easier than the fields in Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Kansas City. McPherson is a perfect 20-for-20 on the road this season and 6 for 6 indoors.
We’re so high in McPerson in this matchup that we’ve even sprinkled a little on his MVP odds at +20,000.
The Bengals wouldn’t be in the big game if it weren’t for the cold-blooded McPherson and we’re predicting another big performance from the rookie kicker who is building quite the resume in his first season. It's easily Over 7.5 points for us.
