People in the media love controversy and it seems the Chicago Bears find themselves in one each week. That tends to happen when this team loses in heartbreaking fashion like they did last Sunday. One that saw them miss what would’ve been a game-winning field goal to fall 17-16. A rather fitting end considering they must now go on the road into Philadelphia against the team where this entire nightmare began back in January.
Yet many can’t quite let that final sequence go. Most notably the decision by head coach Matt Nagy to kneel on the ball to run down the clock before the final kick. Eddy Pineiro revealed after the game he would’ve preferred the offense had centered the ball between the hashes rather than put in on the left side as they did. This led to rampant criticism of Nagy for not communicating with his kicker before such a crucial moment.
One person who clearly isn’t buying that nonsense for a second is special teams coordinator Chris Tabor. He told Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times and others that responsibility lay with the kicker.
“First of all, I would prefer that Eddy makes the kick . . . ” Tabor said. “And he will make that kick, I do know that. I also think, [Nagy] has addressed it, there’s nothing to say. . . .
“So really to me, there’s no story. I know what the narrative is, but that’s that.”
“It was a 41-yard field goal,” Tabor said. “It wasn’t a 54- or 55-yard[er].”
A kicker’s preference “doesn’t matter,” he said.
Chicago Bears had trust in Pineiro and he didn’t deliver
Could Nagy have done a better job centering the ball? Sure. Does that make him responsible for the missed field goal? No. Tabor is correct in this regard. Pineiro is an NFL kicker. He gets paid a lot of money to hit field goals like that. A 41-yard attempt on a sunny day should be routine, even with some wind. He practices in that stadium all the time. The guy has to hit that kick. It wasn’t ideal but it was far from a low percentage as well.
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Besides. Had Pineiro hit his 33-yard attempt earlier in the game the Bears would’ve won as well and that kick wouldn’t have been required. In truth, Tabor is right to defend Nagy. Though his late-game management wasn’t too good, it should’ve been enough to win the game if his kicker does his job. It didn’t happen. Constantly trying to revisit it for a straight answer to stir up some controversy feels pointless.
