The Panthers will not be auditioning kickers this week.
The topic came up at interim head coach Steve Wilks’ press conference on Tuesday because of what happened in the fourth quarter and overtime of Sunday’s loss to the Falcons. Eddy Piñeiro missed a 48-yard extra point after DJ Moore‘s game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter — Moore’s unsportsmanlike penalty pushed the kick back — and then missed a 32-yard try in overtime.
Wilks said that Piñeiro remains a “major part” of the team and that the Panthers will not be looking at potential replacements this week.
“One guy did not lose this football game,” Wilks said, via Augusta Stone of the team’s website.
Piñeiro is 14-of-16 on field goals and 12-of-13 on extra points for the entire season, which makes it a bit easier for the Panthers to chalk Sunday up as a case of having a bad day at a bad time for the team.