BB.49ERS ARE CRAZY: Handing Over the Whole Season to a ROOKIE KICKER Who Has Never Played an NFL Game!
They could have gone with a safer option.
Unfortunately, it seems likely that the San Francisco 49ers will be without kicker Eddy Piñeiro for the next few weeks after he injured his hamstring in Week 11 against the Arizona Cardinals.
The Ninrs are taking a risk with his replacement.
San Francisco decided to sign Matt Gay, who was recently released by the Washington Commanders, to their practice squad. He is coming off a rough stretch with Washington as he has only made 13 of 19 field-goal attempts this season.
After the Niners have gone the whole season without seeing Piñeiro miss a field-goal attempt, it may be a bit of a drop off to go from him to Gay especially when he has struggled from long distance.
One area where Gay may have a leg, or foot, up over Piñeiro is when it comes to extra points. Gay has made all 22 of his extra-point attempts this season while Piñeiro has missed four of those, which is something Piñeiro has struggled with throughout his career.
Thankfully, the 49ers did not entertain bringing in Justin Tucker, given his sordid and controversial reputation, but they could have gone a dofferent route than Gay especially since he seems to be struggling.
San Francisco brought in a familiar name in Anders Carlson for a tryout after the Piñeiro injury. Carlson kicked for the Niners in two games last season after Jake Moody and Matthew Wright both went down with injuries.
Carlson kicked well, making five out of five field-goal attempts while making three out of four extra-point attempts. He went on to the New York Jets after that when Moody returned from injury and kicked well there, too, making eight of 10 field goals with a long of 58 yards and nine of 11 extra points.
It would have made sense to bring Carlson back after his solid showing last year, but maybe Gay looked better in tryouts and convinced the Niners that some fresh scenery could get him turned around, much like a change of scene has seemed to help Moody who kicked well for the Chicago Bears and is now the kicker in Washington to replace Gay.
In a perfect world, maybe the 49ers will only score touchdowns while Piñeiro is out, and Gay can come in and be perfect on extra points.
Things usually do not work out like that, though, and if Gay has to make a big kick late in a game, the 49ers will be holding their breath in a way they never had to with Piñeiro.
