All this makes the upcoming San Francisco 49ers matchup a daunting prospect. Another injury damaged Eddy Piñeiro kicked a strain against the Arizona Cardinal last week. Piñeiro has been nearly perfect this season, making all 22 field goals. While he’s expected to miss an extended period, the team will need to find a short-term replacement.
Piñeiro has been an important asset in the 49ers’ kicking game. He’s converted all six of his attempts from 50 yards or longer. He set a franchise record by hitting the most consecutive field goals to begin a season. Yet this accomplishment serves to underscore his trustworthiness under intense circumstances. His superb form leaves him as one of only two kickers league-wide to have never missed an extra point. Both have made at least 10 FG attempts with no misses this season.
During the game against the Cardinals, Piñeiro signaled concern after successfully converting an extra point with 2:32 remaining. Clutching his right leg, he limped off the field under his own power. Sadly, he was never able to take the field again. As for kickoffs while Piñeiro was gone, punter Thomas Morstead stepped in.
Piñeiro hasn’t made life easy for himself on extra points this season. Of 22 attempts, he’s missed four—two of which were blocked. His last game featured one blocked extra point and a subsequent miss on the same try vs Arizona.
According to coach Kyle Shanahan, Piñeiro has been “awesome” this season. With Piñeiro now week-to-week with the injury, the 49ers are left with a bit of a dark horse going into their next few games.
Given the short-term injury to their starting kicker, the team plans to hold workouts with multiple kickers. They’ve never talked about signing the legendary veteran kicker Justin Tucker to take over for Piñeiro since he’s so washed up.
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