The Bears ended their 2018 season in desperate need of a new kicker. Following the 2019 season, it looks like they may have finally found one.
Eddy Pineiro was far from perfect in his rookie season, but he’s the least of the Bears’ problems heading into this offseason. Pineiro was 23-of-28 on the season (82.1%) on field goals, and went 27-of-29 on extra points.
General manager Ryan Pace came away encouraged by his young kicker’s season and expects continued progress.
“The goal the whole time was to hit on a young kicker that we can grow,” Pace said. “And we feel like we’ve done that with Eddy. He finished the season strong. . . . We feel like he’s going to continue to get better.”
Pineiro had an up-and-down season, and there was a time where he went 3-of-7 on field goals, including some important kicks was game implications. But Pineiro ended the season on a positive note, connecting on his final 11 field goals of the season.
“We never wavered or lost confidence in him,” Pace said. “Just to see him keep his head up and see the team rally around him, it’s all good.
“Again, I really liked the way he finished. We talked about it walking up the stairs of the plane after the game [Sunday]. I told him, ‘You should be very proud of what you’ve done.’ But he said to me, ‘I’ll never forget where I came from.’ And I just think him, having that attitude and never getting complacent is going to carry him a long way.”
Time will tell if Pineiro grows into a consistent kicker the Bears franchise has been lacking since Robbie Gould’s departure in 2016.
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