Bears: Team making the right decision by keeping Piniero

Chicago Bears head coach Matt Nagy has said that the team will not pursue a different option at kicker. Here’s why that’s the right decision.

The Chicago Bears are in a very familiar situation late in the 2019 season.

As the Bears fell to 4-6 after their abysmal loss to the Los Angeles Rams on national television on Sunday, the team is plagued by incompetent kicking and missed field goals.

Early in the season, it seemed as if the team had finally found their answer at place kicker. While rookie kicker Eddy Pineiro split the uprights on a game-winning 53-yard field goal, the Bears fanbase exhaled.

My, how things have changed.

Pineiro has fallen from glory to scapegoat in just a few weeks. Late in October, he missed what would have been a game-winning 41-yard field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers at Soldier Field.

The scene wasn’t much better in Week 11 as Pineiro missed two field goals. Though the Bears still would have fallen had both field goals been successful, the sight of seeing two missed FGs certainly probably didn’t help the team’s confidence from the start.

After the game, Bears head coach Matt Nagy said that the team wouldn’t pursue other options at the kicking position.

It certainly is tough to watch the Bears struggle at the kicking position week in and week out. And it’s hard for any fan to watch a missed field goal and think about what could have been in last season’s playoffs.

But at 4-6 and just a loss away from the basement of the NFC North, the Bears playoff hopes lie somewhere at the bottom of Lake Michigan. Record aside, the Bears offense clearly doesn’t have what it takes to make themselves a playoff contender.

That being said, the Bears are making the correct decision by not pursuing another kicker.

It’s hard not to be upset watching your team’s success being dashed by missed field goals. But it must be stressed that Pineiro is only a rookie who didn’t kick at all in the 2018 season due to injury.

Pineiro is on a team-friendly contract for this season and next. He’ll take up only $495,000 in 2019 and $660,000 next season. Only $25,000 of his contrat is fully guaranteed according to Over the Cap.

Though it hasn’t shown as of late, Pineiro has shown that he has the leg and ability to be a reliable kicker.

In a perfect world, Pineiro will find his groove soon and be a reliable option for this year and next as the front office retools to get the team back into playoff contention.

Hey, crazier things have happened right?