Kyle Shanahan does not have an answer yet on who his kicker will be going forward. He expects the conversation to start on the 49ers’ plane ride home.
The 49ers lost 29-20 to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday for their first defeat of the season, and Eddy Piñeiro’s missed extra point after Kyle Juszczyk’s 1-yard touchdown catch with 5:05 left kept San Francisco down 26-20. It was Piñeiro’s fourth missed extra point this season.
When asked whether the 49ers will work out kickers this week or still are confident in Piñeiro, Shanahan did not commit either way.
“I don’t know, I haven’t talked to anybody about that,” Shanahan said. “We will probably discuss on the plane.”
The question is a fair one. Piñeiro has missed seven kicks in seven games, three field goals and four extra points, after six misses through the first six games, which already topped the five he missed in all of 2025. Shanahan said last week the extra points are not good enough.
“He’s got to make them,” Shanahan said after the win over the Washington Commanders in Week 6.
Piñeiro offered no explanation of his own. Asked whether he felt or changed anything in particular before the kicks, he said the answer will come from the film.
“Like I said, I got to go back and see what’s going on and just got to check the film, you know, go from there. Everything happens quick,” Piñeiro said.
By his account, the snap and hold were not the issue, and he did not point to a specific adjustment. Asked about his frustration level, Piñeiro said the misses come with the job and pointed to the bye week.
“Just part of the game, you know, got to make kicks. Yeah, just part of the game, you know, just got to go back in tape, get this bye week and just figure it out,” Piñeiro said.
Piñeiro’s history makes the situation more complicated. He took over for Jake Moody in Week 2 of last season and made 28 of 29 field goals, leading the NFL at 96.6 percent, and the 49ers rewarded him with a four-year, $17 million extension in March.
In his defense, all three of his missed field goals this season have come from beyond 50 yards, including one that was blocked against the Denver Broncos. The extra points are the bigger concern. Piñeiro has missed 15 extra points over the last five seasons, the most of any kicker in the NFL.
Piñeiro did not attempt a field goal Sunday while the 49ers went 3 of 4 on fourth down conversions.
San Francisco now heads into its bye week at 6-1, with a decision to make about a kicker who was one of the league’s best a year ago and has been one of the least reliable this season.