August 19, 2019: Ready Eddy

I wasn’t really following the Bears kicking competition so closely. I knew we had like 6 guys at one point…ok, maybe 4-5. I knew there was one guy named Blewitt…glad he wasn’t the guy. Then there was two: Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro. Again, didn’t really dig into these two guys bios. For a while, I was still hoping to somehow get Robbie back in the fold. When that dream was over, I knew it’d be somebody new. That’s fine; anybody but Parkey. I saw Matt Bryant out there and thought maybe he could be the guy. I wonder if the Bears reached out; I wonder if Bryant asked for a king’s ransom. I sure hope the Bears aren’t being cheap here. Now that Fry has been cut, it’s Pineiro’s job to lose. You ready Eddy?

The whole thing is a little nuts, all this attention on the kicker. That’s what happens though when our kicker, the weakest link, cost us a playoff victory. It wasn’t like that was the first kick he missed either; definitely don’t need to relive all of this. So they cut him; great! Now what? Now it’s Eddy time. But all the scrutiny with which these guys competed. All the attention around each kick. The lining up and kicking of multiple kicks from the same distance that fateful kick was missed from. Kickers seem to have a fragile psyche as it is; you think this is going to help? Well, maybe the thought is if they could make it through this, they’ll be ready for everything; I hope so. I do trust Nagy, but if there was one area I would question it is the kicking game; I’ll give him a mulligan. I just want to know that when the pressure is on, will this guy make a kick to win us a game? We won’t truly know until the moment comes; all that can be done is to prepare as much as possible for it. I hope he’s ready. Maybe we’ll be so good, we won’t need a big FG, although history tells us differently in most cases. There will be a point in the season where we will need a big kick. Good luck Eddy; no pressure.

Before we end this Bears blog, have to mention Cedric Benson and his untimely death at 36 years old. I was never a huge fan, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve been complaining about getting old lately…it’s better than dying young. And Ced had his moments in a Bears uniform too. That 1-2 punch with Thomas Jones helping the defense and Hester lead us to our last Super Bowl appearance. I wonder if the result is any different had Benson stayed in that game. Sorry to hear this news. RIP Cedric.

It’s getting close now. The meaningless preseason is halfway over. A little over 2 weeks until that first season opening Thursday night game at Soldier Field vs the Pack. Maybe we’ll need a big FG in that one. Better to find out sooner than later; well, then of course we’ll have to do something about it once we know. I’m ready. Bear Down!