Chicago Bears: 3 Takeaways from first preseason game vs. Panthers

The kicking competition moves to the game field

We all know how epic this kicking competition has become. The Bears brought in a small village of kickers to replace Cody Parkey. The team whittled down the battle to just two guys, Eddy Pineiro and Elliott Fry.

The battle got off to a roaring start. In training camp, Pineiro hit on almost 90 percent of his attempts while Fry hit about 85 percent. Of course, they made all those field goals without the pressure of a game behind it. Hitting field goals at camp is a lot different from hitting them in a game when they count (even in a preseason game).

After the Bears scored on a touchdown in the second quarter, head coach Matt Nagy decided to have Fry hit the extra point. He nailed it and the Soldier Field crowd, desperate to have all this work out finally, gave Fry a standing ovation.

Later in the quarter, Pineiro got his opportunity. He attempted a 48-yard field goal, but it went wide left. Not a good start in front of the home crowd.

After a turnover got the ball back to the Bears right before halftime, Fry came in for a 43-yard attempt. You know what that was, the Parkey kick. Fry nailed it and received another standing ovation. Pineiro got another opportunity in the fourth quarter and this time he hit a 23-yard field goal.

Even though Pineiro appeared to be ahead in the competition during training camp, things only matter when you do them in games. With Fry hitting both his kicks and Pineiro missing one, Fry has to be considered the leader.

Pineiro has a stronger leg so if he can consistently make his kicks and do them from further out then he can come back and win the job. He’d have to come from behind, however, so it’ll be more difficult.