MINNEAPOLIS — Oh, the irony.
A season that opened with trepidation and doubt about the Bears’ place-kicker ended with Eddy Pineiro kicking a 22-yard field goal to give the Bears a Week 17 road victory — and it meant zilch.
As it turns out, after the well-documented search for a kicker to replace Cody Parkey that was ridiculed nationally and locally, the kicker wasn’t the problem. Pineiro’s game-winner with 10 seconds left in a 21-19 victory over the Vikings was his fourth field goal without a miss Sunday. He also hit from 26, 33 and 34 yards to finish his rookie season with 11 consecutive made field goals.