The Chicago Bears have been plagued by kicker problems for the past three years. Connor Barth and then Cody Parkey each took turns breaking the hearts of fans with their wholly inadequate play. When GM Ryan Pace traded for talented youngster Eddy Pineiro from Oakland, it was felt the team had gotten somebody with great pedigree. He’d been excellent at Florida and seemed to have the necessary temperament for kicking in a tough place like Chicago.
Things started out great. Through his first six games, Pineiro was near-perfect, going 20-of-21 on all of his kicks. This despite dealing with a pinched nerve in his knee. People started to think the Bears finally had a kicker they could trust. Then, as had become routine, the wheels fell off. The next month would prove to be one from hell for Pineiro. It started with two missed field goals against the Los Angeles Chargers. One of which would’ve been the game-winner.
Over a stretch of five games, Pineiro missed six kicks in total. People were convinced the Bears had whiffed yet again. The kid couldn’t hack it just like the other guys before him. However, they were in for a minor surprise. Rather than continue this trend of struggles, Pineiro found a way to settle himself. Over the final five games of the season, he did not miss a single kick, going a perfect 18-of-18.
Eddy Pineiro proved he can overcome mistakes
The mark of good football players isn’t that they never struggle. Even the best players in history had stretches during certain seasons where nothing seemed to go right. It was whether or not they could settle themselves down and get back to playing better. Parkey never did that in 2018. He was missing kicks from the beginning of the season to the end. Pineiro proved he is different by finding a way to overcome the setbacks to remain unblemished over the final month of the season.
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He becomes the first Bears kicker since Robbie Gould left to finish a year with a field goal percentage above 80. Considering this involves kicking eight times at Soldier Field, this is no small feat. It’s also important to remember that this year was essentially a rookie season for Pineiro. He never kicked in the regular season last year for the Raiders due to an injury that landed him on IR. So for him to do this with no prior experience is worth noting.
If nothing else, Pineiro did enough to earn another year in 2020.
