Staley Da Bear
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- Mar 16, 2019
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(2) The Bears offense produced a late game-winning drive, but the unit again struggled much of the game, especially in the red zone.
The 15-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in Piñeiro’s decisive 22-yard field goal was impressive—especially Mitchell Trubisky’s 32-yard pass to rookie Riley Ridley on fourth-and-nine. But it came after the Bears offense had failed to score a first-half touchdown for the 11th time in 16 games this year.
Three red-zone possessions in the first half resulted in Piñeiro field goals of 26, 33 and 34 yards after the Bears had reached the Vikings’ 8, 9 and 14. The offense opened the second half with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by David Montgomery’s 14-yard touchdown run. But settling for the three field goals in the first half almost cost them the game as the Vikings rallied to take a 19-18 lead.
Trubisky completed 26 of 37 passes for 207 yards and an 84.0 passer rating. The third-year pro finished the season connecting on 63.2 percent of his passes for 3,138 yards with 17 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and an 83.0 passer rating. Last year Trubisky completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 3,223 yards with 24 TDs, 12 interceptions and a 95.4 rating.
Fixing the offense will be a top offseason priority for the Bears after the unit finished the season ranked 29th in the NFL in scoring—ahead of only the Bengals, Jets and Redskins—and also 29th in total yards.
(3) Piñeiro provided the answer to a pressing question that lingered for almost a year with a strong finish to the season.
After a highly-publicized search for a new kicker, Piñeiro made 23-of-28 field-goal attempts (82.1 percent) this year, including his final 11 tries over the last six games. Piñeiro was 4-of-4 against the Vikings, hitting from 26, 33 and 34 yards before drilling the 22-yard game-winner with :10 remaining.
“That was a huge, huge, big void that we had going into this year,” Nagy said after Sunday’s win in Minnesota. “I feel pretty good that that void is filled.”
Acquired by the Bears in a trade with the Raiders, Piñeiro opened the season by making 9-of-10 field-goal tries. He then missed 4-of-7 attempts but rebounded to hit 11-of-11 over the final six games.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Piñeiro said of his strong finish. “I have been getting good snaps and holds all year long. Also, the guys have done a great job blocking for me. All the credit goes to them.
“I honestly want the season to keep going. It is sad the season is over at this point in time. I am just happy that I ended on a good note. It is now time to get ready for next year where I will need to compete in order to get my job back.”