Why the 49ers Still Believe in Eddy Pineiro

Surprisingly, Eddy Pineiro didn't cost the San Francisco 49ers their first loss of the season against the Atlanta Falcons.

He's lucky the whole team played sloppily against Atlanta, so it didn't come down to him. He did, however, miss another extra point. Pineiro has the yips.

There's no denying that. With Pineiro kicking poorly this season, he's bound to be the reason the 49ers lose a game, maybe in the playoffs.

Now that the 49ers are on their Bye Week, they should explore kicker options. They cannot continue like this, but it seems they're okay with it, given John Lynch's latest comments.

"We don't have a kicker tryout. We have a lot of belief in Eddie," Lynch said to Bay Area radio station KNBR. "He has had a tough run early this year, but we extended Eddie for his body of work with us but then throughout the history of his career. He's going through a rough patch right now....We have belief in Eddie, and we're going to ride with him."

Notice how Lynch mentioned that the 49ers extended Pineiro in the offseason. That plays a significant role in keeping him. Or, in this case, "believing" in him.

If there's one thing the 49ers don't like, it's admitting fault with a player they liked and added. Remember, it did take them a long time to cut ties with Jake Moody.

The 49ers didn't want to deal with the poor optics of cutting a third-round kicker so soon, even though the optics were bad from the moment they drafted Moody.

It's also the reluctance to pull the plug so soon on a player they just invested in. It makes sense from that standpoint, but it's only because Pineiro hasn't cost the 49ers games.

Once that happens, and it feels inevitable, that is when they will start to consider their options. I'm not sure how the 49ers can prevent that from happening.

Their one and only saving grace is the Bye Week. It allows Pineiro to get away, giving him a mental reset. He can come back after the Bye as if nothing had happened prior.

Anytime a kicker has the yips, it's mostly, if not all, mental. There's nothing the 49ers can do to significantly help him. If he can't get it together after the Bye Week, he never will.

Should his struggles continue, they would be foolish not to look at other kickers. Otherwise, they risk Pineiro being the reason their 2026 season comes to a disappointing end.

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