A lot of people weren’t happy when Matt Nagy chose to take a knee with 43 seconds left in the game against the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chicago Bears still had a timeout in their pocket and could’ve run the ball a couple of times to try getting a bit closer for their field goal attempt. Instead the head coach sent Eddy Pineiro out to try a 41-yard kick. While many people were unhappy with that decision to kneel at all, Pineiro was apparently irritated by another part of it.
The inability of Nagy to ask his kicker where he wanted the ball set up. Here’s a thing to remember. Kickers are like golfers. When they tee off, they tend to prefer hitting from certain parts of the tee. Some like the left side, some like the right. Most though? They prefer the center. Pineiro falls into that category. He told the media, likely without the intention of doing so, that he would’ve preferred the offense kneel centered between the hashes on that final play, giving him a direct look.
That didn’t happen. They kneeled on the left hash and Pineiro ended up missed barely outside the left upright. So it stands to reason that kick would’ve been good had Nagy instructed the offense to center it.
Eddy Pineiro shines brighter light on Nagy’s game awareness
Now one should be fair here. The weather was good and it was a 41-yard kick. Those should be pretty routine for an NFL kicker. So Pineiro should endure his share of the blame. At the same time, this shines a brighter light on Nagy’s questionable awareness during games. The unwillingness to even try a safe run for more yardage. Not asking his kicker where he wants the ball on the kneel down. This should be basic stuff for a head coach to understand.
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Maybe Nagy was lost in the moment. He didn’t trust his offense to execute the necessary plays properly, so he decided to just go for the win. Unfortunately, the NFL is an unforgiving place for coaches who try to cut corners. Two bad decisions on his part led to them losing a game they should’ve won. Pineiro probably didn’t intend to call out his coach like that, but it’s an interesting point he raised regardless.
