Shockwaves hit the 49ers as their kicker’s injury throws the season’s plans back into chaos.QQ

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The San Francisco 49ers just can’t seem to shake the injury bug. Despite getting their season back on track with a win over the Arizona Cardinals in week 11, the 49ers did not escape the game unscathed. In the third quarter of the 41-22 victory, kicker Eddy Pineiro left the game with an injury and did not return. And only a day after the 49ers’ triumphant victory, they received some unfortunate news regarding Pineiro, and now have to go back to the drawing board in order to find another kicker.

On Monday, Nov. 17, head coach Kyle Shanahan announced that Pineiro suffered a grade 1 strain in his right hamstring that will likely force the veteran kicker to miss time. While he is week-to-week and the injury is not super serious, a hamstring injury is never something that kickers should mess with considering how much they rely on their legs.

Pineiro’s Injury

Pineiro suffered the injury on a PAT that put the 49ers up ahead 35-10. Missing two kicks earlier in the game, one that was blocked, Pineiro redeemed himself and three-for-three on field goals, continuing his run of dominance since joining the 49ers. Pineiro has been extremely consistent and looked like he solved the 49ers’ kicking woes, but now that he is hurt, the team will need to look at the free agent market and bring in a guy ahead of their week 12 matchup against the Carolina Panthers.

“We’re going to bring in some guys for a workout,” Shanahan said. “They’re working on that now. They’re going to do it either tomorrow or Wednesday.”

So far this season, Pineiro has been perfect on field goals, converting all 22 of his attempts with six coming from 50 yards or more. One of two kickers to have at least 10 field goal attempts with no misses this season, he set a 49ers’ franchise record for most consecutive makes to begin a season. But on 22 PAT tries, he has four misses– with two being blocked– on the season. After getting hurt in the game, punter Thomas Morstead handled all kicking duties.

“He’s been awesome so far,” Shanahan added on Pineiro. “Pumped that we’ve been able to get him.”

49ers’ Kicker Options

With Pineiro down, the 49ers need to due their homework on the best option moving forward. But one player who is not expected to be in the mix to sign with the team is longtime Baltimore Ravens kicker, Justin Tucker. Suspended for the first 10 games of this season due to sexual misconduct allegations, Tucker is eligible to sign with any team and return to play, but it is hard to envision a team taking a chance on him given his current legal battles.

Whatever the 49ers decide to do, the decision will be a big one. Kicker is often an overlooked position, but a very important one given how many points they are responsible for. And with the 49ers in prime playoff position, finding a good kicker will be very important.