A single man doesn’t lose an entire team a football game. But 11 days ago, Eddy Piñeiro had two chances to win the Carolina Panthers one.
That, of course, didn’t happen. Back in Week 8 against the Atlanta Falcons, Piñeiro missed two potential game-winning kicks—a 48-yard extra point at the end of regulation and a 33-yard field goal in the ensuing overtime period.
After the Falcons eventually locked that highly-contested outing up, the 27-year-old kicker and the Panthers had themselves a shot at redemption on Thursday night. And they nailed it.
Week 10’s 25-15 win was, in part, pushed to the finish line by Piñeiro—who converted on all four of his field goal attempts and one of his two extra point tries. Interim head coach Steve Wilks took the time to praise his leg (and his mind) at the beginning of his postgame presser.
“And I can’t say enough, too, about Eddy,” he said. “Just a tremendous job of how he rebounded and bounced back, man. I’m so excited about him and the way his teammates just rallied behind him.”
Considering one of those two missed kicks in Atlanta two weeks ago could’ve catapulted the Panthers into first place, the result was all the more disappointing for an otherwise reliable Piñeiro. But Wilks, when asked if he was nervous of that mental carryover as well as the rainy conditions on the night, stuck with his kicker.
“Wasn’t nervous at all,” Wilks said. “I thought Eddy did a great job, again, just in practice. Ya know, bouncing back. As you guys asked me earlier in the week, I told you we created different scenarios for him in those situations. And it just says a lot about him as a person. You gotta hit the reset button. All the guys do. And just understand it happens sometimes. But the way he came back tonight, I’m just so proud of him.”
Welcome back, Steady Eddy.
