Bears Not Planning Change At Kicker

In addition to a potential quarterback controversy, the Bears once again find themselves with an untenable situation at kicker. Eddy Pineiro emerged from the team’s open casting call this offseason with the kicking job in hand, and he started off the 2019 campaign on the right foot. Through the first two games of the season, he was perfect on extra points and field goal attempts, including a 53-yard FG as time expired in the team’s 16-14 win over the Broncos in Week 2.

He has only missed one PAT out of 18 attempts, but he is struggling with field goals. He has missed four of his past seven FG tries, including two missed 48-yarders in the first quarter of Sunday night’s loss to the Rams. He didn’t have any FG attempts the prior two games, but in a Week 8 loss to the Chargers, he missed two tries, including a 41-yarder as time expired that would have won it for the Bears.

After the Chargers game, head coach Matt Nagy said he would not look to replace Pineiro, and Pineiro’s struggles on Sunday have not caused Nagy to waver. As Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune writes, Nagy said “no” four times when asked during his post-game presser if he would explore other options at kicker. However, he did express frustration that Pineiro has not helped an already slumping offense put up points when the team does manage to get into scoring position.

Pineiro has converted 12 of 17 field goals on the season, a 71% mark that ranks 31st among NFL kickers. All five of his misses have been under 50 yards.

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