Evan McPherson Shoulders Blame, But Ryan Rehkow's Botched Hold Costs Bengals in Overtime Loss to Ravens

The Bengals are 1-4 following the 41-38 loss.

Sep 15, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Cincinnati Bengals place kicker Evan McPherson (2) celebrates with punter Ryan Rehkow (8) after kicking a field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — The Bengals should've beat the Ravens on Sunday.

Joe Burrow threw for a career-high five touchdowns. They had a 10-point fourth quarter lead. And even after they had a turnover and stalled on offense at the end regulation, the Ravens gifted them another chance.

Lamar Jackson fumbled the snap at Cincinnati's 44-yard line. Germaine Pratt not only recovered, but returned it to the Ravens' 38-yard line.

After Baltimore rallied to force overtime, won the coin toss and had Cincinnati on the ropes, the Bengals were going to escape.

They were already in Evan McPherson's range for the game-winning field goal. Heck, "Money Mac" made a 56-yarder last week in Carolina.

The Bengals ran the ball three-straight times following the turnover. Chase Brown picked up three extra yards, which meant McPherson had to make a 53-yarder.

He didn't.

Related: Bengals Players Question Zac Taylor's Conservative Playcalling in Overtime

Rookie punter and holder Ryan Rehkow bobbled a slightly off target snap from Cal Adomitis and the kick had no chance.

"The snap was good. The snap came back really clean," Rehkow said. "I think I just tried to get it down a little too quick—give Evan enough time to look at it—and I just didn’t get it down cleanly.”

McPherson didn't blame the rookie or the snap.

"I'm really proud of Ryan. He's done a really good job of holding, and I have full trust in him," McPherson said. "Whether he drops it or it's perfect, I think that I should make every kick. So none of that should be put on Ryan or Cal or anything. If anything, I didn't put the ball through the uprights, so it all has to fall on me."

THIS WAS THE HOLD ON EVAN MCPHERSON’S MISSED FIELD GOAL

HE MADE 14 STRAIGHT IN THE 4TH QUARTER AND OVERTIME UNTIL NOW pic.twitter.com/3I325PWsw0

— Kyle (@ImKyleMangum) October 6, 2024

The Ravens kicked the game-winning field goal one play later after Derrick Henry ran for a 51-yard gain that put Justin Tucker in position to make arguably the easiest game-winner of his career.

“There’s definitely plays you wish you could go back and change. These plays happen," Rehkow said. "If you play football long enough, not every single one can be perfect, and I hate that it happened in that moment—in that circumstance. It’s part of the game. It really is. Come back to work tomorrow and get it sorted, and be clean from here on out.”

The Bengals were within inches of moving to 2-3 on the year and winning a game that could've propelled them forward after an 0-3 start to the season. Instead, they're 1-4 and they've fallen even farther into a hole that seems nearly impossible to get out of—all because of a bad hold.

“It's super difficult, just because everything was going so well and we were playing so well," McPherson said. "And I just hate the way it ended, because we all had a good feeling about it. We were all playing really good football, and I felt like I was kicking well today. I had a good feeling about the field goal, but it's just how it goes sometimes. But you have to learn to take it, move on and not sit on it, and not let it affect next week.”

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