Chicago Bears will win the NFC North in 2020, and here’s 5 reasons why

1. The Kicker

The kicker is like a car’s transmission. It’s not something you really think about until you have a bad one. Then, it leads to major losses both in life and financially. The Bears are literally famous for having bad kickers as of late. There’s the double doink. There’s the very strange kicker competition in the offseason, as explained in this Sports Illustrated story. Then, there’s Eddy Pineiro, who won that strange competition only to have a rough season.

Pineiro went 3-7 when the kick was between 40 and 49 yards last season. It was wild when head coach Matt Nagy decided to take a knee against the Los Angeles Chargers to go for a 41-yard kick to win the game as time expired. They literally could have run up the middle, keep it in the 30-39 yard range, where Pineiro was 9 of 10.

The Bears look like they are going with Eddy Pineiro again, which seems like an upsetting plan, but it’s actually good. The situation Nagy put the kickers in last season only made it worse. This is the one position in sports that is literally impossible without confidence. Every other position, talent can at least help build confidence. As a kicker, if your confidence is shattered, then so is your career.

Pineiro seems to understand his issues. We don’t see the Bears bringing in competition or at least serious competition. Pinero is trying to learn how to play in all different circumstances. He just needs to be a confident force in that Bears locker room. That will help the team erase some of the ghosts of these past seasons. Just think about this, if Pineiro hit that Chargers kick last season, the Bears end the season 9-7. That just looks different.

This is going to drive Chicago to beat the expectations they were supposed to overcome last season. They are flying under the radar this season, and they can be the surprise team once again.