Panthers bungle final ‘TNF’ drive, come up short on head-scratching 59-yard field goal attempt

Eddy Piñeiro missed it by that much. 

The Panthers kicker wasn’t even close when he attempted a 59-yard kick in the fourth quarter with the Carolina down 16-13 with 1:40 left in the game, a score that held for a Bears win on “Thursday Night Football.”

It was an ugly sequence all around as Carolina burned a timeout before the kick.

And then, on fourth-and-10, Piñeiro failed to come close for the potentially tying field goal. 

Coming into the game, Piñeiro’s career-high was 56 yards.

Before the miss, Carolina had gone on a lengthy drive to give itself a chance at scoring.

The Panthers marched all the way down the field after starting at their own nine-yard line and converted on two fourth downs before stalling out on the Bears’ 41-yard line. 

Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young nearly threw a pick on third-and-10, which set up the fourth-down call, where head coach Frank Reich opted to kick instead of go for it.

“It was a tough decision,” Reich said during his postgame press conference. “Honestly, as far as percentages, I listen to the analytics guys, I talked to [special teams] coach [Chris Tabor], there was mixed opinions about what we should do. That’s my call. I’ve seen us make 60-yarders in practice, felt like there a little breeze at our back.

“If you look at the pure percentages, the pure percentage play is to kick it.”

The Bears got the ball back with 1:35 left on the clock, and despite Carlina’s attempt to get one last shot to tie or take the lead, Chicago never relinquished possession to close out the game and its third win of the season.

The Panthers dropped their second consecutive game to fall to 1-8.

Early in the game, Piñeiro kicked a key field goal with a 33-yarder on fourth-and-11 in the second quarter to give the Panthers a 10-3 lead.

He added a 39-yard field goal with 11:06 left in the game to put the Panthers within three. 

The Bears eliminated the seven-point deficit with a pair of field goals in the final 3:06 of the first half to go into halftime down 10-9.

Then, running back D’Onta Foreman scored Chicago’s first touchdown of the game on a four-yard scamper, putting the Bears up for good.