For one moment at Soldier Field in the fourth and final preseason game, Chicago Bears fans panicked. They watched as Eddy Pineiro, fresh off a perfect outing the week before, badly shanked a 33-yard extra point attempt to the left. They were left to wonder what happened. The snap seemed good. The hold wasn’t bad. It wasn’t blocked. It appeared like he simply didn’t hit it right. People were left muttering, “Here we go again.”
Thankfully it was a false alarm. Pineiro showed one of the key requirements of a good kicker: a short memory. He went on to connect on three-straight field goal attempts. All of them right down the middle. So it’s fair to say the extra point attempt was an aberration rather than a sign of imminent demise. Everything points to Pineiro officially being named the Bears’ kicker for the 2019 season as they begin preparations for Green Bay.
This is not to say people should feel comfortable. Pineiro, while talented, has never kicked in a regular season game before. Opening night against the Packers will be his first experience. Certainly high pressure to start things out. One can only hope he’ll be prepared.
Eddy Pineiro has the talent and confidence
It appears the trade GM Ryan Pace made for Pineiro is paying off. If he ends up being the guy long-term, the Bears will have gotten a starting kicker for a conditional 7th round pick. The kid has loads of talent and a history of success dating back to his time at Florida. If he is able to lock himself in, it wouldn’t be a stretch to see him in a Pro Bowl down the line. Granted that won’t be easy to do when Soldier Field is his primary venue.
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Everything comes down to how much he can limit his mistakes. What sank Cody Parkey last year wasn’t the fact he missed from time to time. That’s almost inevitable even for good kickers. His problem was once he missed, he kept missing. Pineiro showed in this game that he can forget a bad kick quickly and continue to do his job without much concern. Robbie Gould was much the same way for most of his career.
