It’s understandable if Eddy Piñeiro is struggling to find confidence during this 4-game slump, but all he has to do is look toward the sideline if he needs a pick-me-up.
Last Sunday’s two-miss game represented the first real opportunity for the Chicago Bears to invite some kicking candidates for tryouts at Halas Hall. But rather than bring in fresh legs to turn up the heat on the kicker’s back-side, Head Coach Matt Nagy publicly expressed his willingness to ride it out with Piñeiro.
At a minimum, the vote of confidence probably helped Piñeiro breathe easier. After all, before this four-game slump, Piñeiro had made 9 of 10 kicks and all 11 of his extra-point attempts. Things were looking good and he had started making his way into the circle of trust. Unfortunately, this current four-game slump – in which he has a 42.9 percent success rate (if we can even call it that) – has that inevitable feeling that things are about to spiral out of control sooner or later.
But not if Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor has anything to say about it.
During his weekly press conference, Tabor took his turn to publicly back Piñeiro. So much so, he was willing to take personal responsibility en route to putting him back on the right track.
Bears special-teams coordinator Chris Tabor said Eddy Pineiro went 21-of-23 kicking yesterday at Soldier Field: "He's in a bit of a rut. Our job is to get him back in a groove."
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) November 21, 2019
I bet Piñeiro appreciates Tabor publicly taking on the challenge of getting him out of this funk. Because while this is part of the territory as a coach, this much public support during your worst stretch of the year should make Piñeiro feel some type of way.
When things go bad for kickers in Chicago, they tend to spiral out of control. But maybe some kind words will help Piñeiro re-gain the confidence he once had so he can close out this season on a high note.