The San Francisco 49ers have enjoyed a perfect 5-0 start to the season despite another year of injuries taking a toll on the roster.
They’ve beaten the Los Angeles Rams on neutral territory in Australia, taken down the Denver Broncos, who reached last season’s AFC Championship Game, and then edged out the very team that ended their season last year and went on to win the Super Bowl, the Seattle Seahawks,
So far, so good, but while these victories over teams that performed better than the 49ers last season should provide confidence, San Francisco is still lacking in certain areas.
The key one is now at a position that was near-perfect in 2025. At kicker, Eddy Piñeiro seems to have dwindled in form quite a bit to start the season. It's not the most worrying thing in the world yet, with the 49ers enjoying a perfect start to the year. But fine margins are huge in this game.
He missed a field goal against Seattle and is so far 2-for-5 on 50+ yard attempts this season. The kick was a complete miss as well. It wasn't even close.
It's far from ideal, especially considering he went 6-for-7 on attempts from 50+ yards last season, with his only miss coming from 65 yards out. He was essentially perfect from all distances last year.
In addition, he's missed two extra points after touchdowns this year. Sure, it's only an extra point, but he missed five all of last season, so it's still something to keep an eye on. No one knows why he's had such a shaky start to the year, which makes it slightly more confusing.
If things don't change soon, the 49ers front office will start to receive scrutiny because they locked him down to a four-year contract in the offseason.
But winning football matches is what they've done and what matters; Piñeiro just has to be ready for those eventual moments when he's needed most - and the Seahawks game was an example of getting them over the line to win 32-29.
There's no reason to put heat on him yet, but in the second half of the year, especially when it's a tough part of the schedule against tricky opponents, the spotlight will be shining brightly on Piñeiro.
For now, it could just be a small bump in the road. That's football. But the 49ers will have to monitor the situation closely.
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