Bengals Matchup of The Game Pits Kicking Titans McPherson And Tucker

BENGAKLS K EVAN McPHERSON VS. RAVENS K JUSTIN TUCKER

McPherson, the popular boy-next-door with the friendly neighborhood Tyrannosaurus rex leg, no longer wears a watch to keep tabs on his pulse.

And why would he? After coming through with some of the most palpitating field goals in Bengals history last year as a rookie, he didn’t even have to catch his breath in the first month of this season to pick up where he left off with the longest field goal in team history from 59 yards to go along with a 58-yarder and a 57-yarder.

Next to the Falcons’ Younghoe Koo (16-18), McPherson (12-14) is the second-most accurate kicker from 50 and beyond in history with double-digit attempts.

All of which sets up a nervy rematch with one of his childhood role models in Tucker, the Ravens future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer, set for Sunday night’s (8:20-Cincinnati’s Channel 5) AFC North showdown that has had its share of cardiac finishes.

Call it Hall of Flame vs. Hall of Fame.

McPherson is coming off his third AFC Special Teams Player of the week in his 20th career game, but Tucker, 32, in his 11th season, offers some worthy targets. As the most accurate kicker of all-time (91.2 percent), Tucker has 12 of those weekly awards.

“He was one of those guys you looked to and heard about,” says McPherson, a product of the elite youth kicking camps. “He was a guy who was often a topic of conversation.”

So is the 23-year-old McPherson, matching up pretty well with Tucker’s first 20 games in the league. They have the same amount of field goals (37), although Tucker’s percentage is slightly better with 42 attempts to McPherson’s 44. Tucker gets him on kicks between the 40s (12-16 compared to McPherson’s 9-13).

But Money Mac hits the jackpot from 50. That 12 of 14 (regular season only) dwarfs Tucker’s four of five in the much different world of 2012-13. Both are 3-for-3 from 50 this season.

“When Justin came into the league, it was an anomaly for a kicker to be consistent from 50,” McPherson says. “Now…