Saturday represented the Chicago Bears’ return to Soldier Field, but also marked the first time Elliott Fry and Eddy Piñeiro have ever kicked at Soldier Field. And even though it was impossible to re-create a perfect, pressure-filled situation, the Bears did what they could to further their highly anticipated camp competition in front of nearly 19,000 fans at the practice.
The kicking game makes most fans uneasy and many were curious to see how both would respond to kicking at Soldier Field, so it is encouraging to report that the early returns are positive:
Eddy Pineiro’s kicks at Soldier Field (unofficially 10/10):
(In team drills)
33✅
36✅
46✅
(North end zone)
33✅
38✅
45✅
(South end zone)
38✅
48✅
53✅
60✅— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) August 4, 2019
The competition between Fry and Piñeiro has been a hot one to this point, but no one has stood out just yet. Some of that is due to both kickers performing exceptionally well to this point. The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain tweets that Piñeiro is 32-for-36 this summer, which comes out to an 88.9 percent success rate. As for Fry, he isn’t all that far behind. Fry has made34 of 40 kicks, which comes out to making 85.0 percent of his field goals. Not bad, guys! Keep up the good work!
We figured the Bears had their work cut out for them this summer when it came to finding a place-kicker. But I would not have guessed that it would be because both guys they brought into camp would be kicking as well as they have to this point.
I can’t imagine returning to the scene of the double-doink was easy, but a good kicking day surely helps matters. Speaking of which, Head Coach Matt Nagy — who had quite an obsession over the miss this offseason — has called off the dogs:
Matt Nagy says he’s officially moved on from the double doink. No more pounding the kickers with it. No more making them do the Parkey kick from 43.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) August 4, 2019
I’m into it, Coach. As a believer in the idea that the best ways to get over something is to move onto something else, the step away from one of the most soul-crunching moments in a fandom’s history is a good thing. Now that we have moved that out of the picture, we can focus on the kickers in camp and what they are doing to make the team and ultimately help the Bears reach the Super Bowl.